to wonder why coffee shops like Costa and Caffè Nero always so busy?

[catchingup1]

I walk past a couple on my way to work every morning around 7:45am and they’re already at least half full. People are already settled in with laptops, having meetings or just sitting.

A lot of them don’t even look like they’re working. Just scrolling on their phones or chatting.

Also with the cost of living being what it is, I find it even more surprising. I know money isn’t an issue for everyone, but for a lot of people it is, so seeing places like this consistently busy everyday just feels a bit out of sync with everything you hear about how tight things are.

I drink tea, not coffee so apart from Starbucks who serve cats piss tea the others generally are much of a muchness

I have a daily coffee on my way in to work. It’s my only “treat” really. It’s part of my routine and it’s how I start the day.

Costa is my favourite chain coffee shop, and a lot of people I know who prefer their coffee stronger love Nero. At over £4 a drink in some branches prices are getting a bit steep (I remember when my latte was £2.25!), but I’d cut something else from my budget before my latte when I go in to the office (2x per week).

I agree OP. But most on here won’t. This is MN, where spending a tenner a day on fancy coffee is seen as a basic human right.

Both DH and I get a free CN a week through insurance, plus stamps add up to more if we have take away in our own cups. The babychinos are free, and DD5 prefers that to a more grown up drink. If we pay in app you get at least 25% off food. So often it’s free or very cheap for what we are having. I also go in pre work sometimes and as other posters have said it’s only the chains open at that time.

That’s a wild statement. Some of us have subscriptions 🤣

I get a cup of tea in my local indie coffee shop which is also a plant shop. It’s gorgeous and they have a nice range of teas which are cheaper than coffee. The staff also accomodate my autistic child and his only want of …tap water.

I tip them or buy a plant too sometimes.

Same when it comes to spending.

I go 1-2x a week. It is the only quiet and relatively cheap place I can go to sit with a coffee for hours and is open past 5:30pm.

There are so many good independent coffee shops and cafes to go to instead.

Not in my area. There’s maybe 1 or 2 independents and they’re location small, often packed and noisy the times I could go alone. The rest are chains.

I also refuse to pay an extra 50 p / £1 for oat milk when I can walk 5 minutes and get a whole carton for the same price.

This is MN, where spending a tenner a day on fancy coffee is seen as a basic human right.

Obviously you don’t drink coffee if you think it cost a tenner a day.

My one drink is between £4 - £4.50 depending on size and even if I wanted to make it really fancy, it wouldn’t even get to being a tenner unless I added a ridiculous amount of syrups and extras and by then it would be undrinkable.

It is cheaper than going to a pub where many are often buying more than one drink whereas people getting a coffee are typically only getting one.

Even if I got a sandwich or a cake/pastry, it would still be under a tenner.

Costa is cheaper than the other coffee shops where I am and has by far the most spacious seating area. It has more options for a child than the independent coffee shops.

DP has a job where he works remotely. He likes Costa. Free Wifi, and he likes the tea. He will spend hours in there working.
He has racked up about 50+ free drinks on his Costa card. He uses them to treat me (a benefit bum) to a hot chocolate or one of their new matcha drinks.
Our local tends to be very busy, and you see a lot of familiar faces.

£1 cafe nero once a week if you have 3+ rewards and get a code in time.
That’s the only reason I go there.

I was just about to post this! Costa coffee is 😝

YANBU
They are awful 😖. I don't understand why people go there. The coffee tastes like instant coffee, you can taste the urn from the parboiled tea and the cakes are awful.

Because people know what they are getting.
And the more impersonal nature of it makes it easier for people to whip out their laptops and not have to worry about ordering too many drinks.

And the last independent place I tried - a couple of days ago - charged £3 for a cuppa and used a Tetley (peppermint) teabag. I wasn’t impressed!

Oh gosh, don't get me started on places that charge different prices for different size tea servings. It is just a tea bag and water!

@XenoBitch

Oh, absolutely!

Costa cakes and hot chocolates are yummy

Some people are simply addicted to coffee in a similar manner as someone else has a nicotine addiction etc. It's crazy the amount of coffees some people in the office I work at have during the course of the work day.

Agreed 🤷‍♀️

When you’re on a low income it’s a fairly inexpensive treat, compared to getting your hair done / nails done / buying yourself some new clothes etc etc. It’s a chance to get out for a walk and some fresh air, it makes you feel more human, like you’re part of society, it’s fun to people watch. It really isn’t that deep!

I use the 25% off meerkat code for Nero...makes it the cheapest coffee on my high street

My phone provider does £1 coffee codes at cafe Nero. I'm sure there are lots of similar.

I'm not confused about people having money to spend in chain coffee shops, but I am a bit baffled that going to sit in one could be considered a "treat". The coffee is not especially nice (though Caffe Nero's is speed-level strong, I'll give it that), the food is mediocre at best and the atmosphere isn't ever an especially appealing vibe.

They are hubs for those with lots of cash to burn.

Needless to say I haven't been to one for years!