Some cafe owners generally prefer long-term 'residents', so to speak, because they're much more lucrative. There's a reason Starbucks invests so heavily in their store's furniture and ambience: customers who spend more time there buy not only more coffee, but more food as well.
Though I completely agree that if a place is plumb full and you've been sitting their for four hours, it's only polite to offer your table to someone else.
> There's a reason Starbucks invests so heavily in their store's furniture and ambience: customers who spend more time there buy not only more coffee, but more food as well.
I'm not sure that's a 100% logical conclusion. Would one interpret that to mean that the ~50 people who spend all day sitting in the chairs generates more revenue than the many hundreds of take out customers that pass through each day? Sure, perhaps they make more revenue per individual person, but if you look at revenue per customer type per unit of time, the sit down in store customers are by far the worst revenue source.
I don't deny there's a reason they choose to have attractive interiors, but I doubt it is to encourage individuals to spend an entire day there, so Starbucks can reap the windfall of selling the same customer breakfast AND lunch.
The people who get their coffee to go and the ones who sit at the tables are different segments (although there is some overlap).
Also, the sitting customers can be segmented as well: most of them will sit down for 15-30 minutes and leave, but there are some who will stay longer. It would be difficult for someway staying 4 hours to spend as much as 8 people staying 30 minutes each, so that's why djt talks about the need to turn over tables.
I 100% agree with you. I was questioning jmduke's assertion that 4 hour sit down customers are more lucrative. As I see it, they are the least lucrative customer.
The furniture isn't there to give the store ambiance, it's there to attract long-staying customers. And a store full of customers has a lot more ambiance than an empty store.
Also, please don't sit in cafes during peak times as that is when they make most of their money and need to turn over tables.
When it's quiet sit near a window to make the cafe look busier.
Ask BEFORE plugging in your laptop charger.
I know these are obvious to most people but I've seen people seemingly oblivious to it and most cafe owners are too nice to throw someone out.