4 ms·
It might even be an effective strategy to add a few extra cars to your parking lot, so it always has at least a moderate number. When I worked at a mall food c
by adrianmonk 7y ago
It might even be an effective strategy to add a few extra cars to your parking lot, so it always has at least a moderate number.
When I worked at a mall food court, I noticed something interesting: during slower periods, sometimes one restaurant would have a line while other restaurants would have no customers at all. And not always the same restaurant. I attributed it to customers seeing that one place had customers, then inferring that it must be open and it must be one of the better places to eat.
Popularity isn't a very reliable indicator of quality, but it's not totally invalid either. If a place is always deserted, it's probably not very good. If it's always busy, it's likely that people are willing to wait for a reason.
- sixstringtheory 7y agoBack when I used to tend open bars, I’d do something I called “priming the tip jar.” Throw a five and some ones in and folks seemed to be more willing to tip. Probably mostly because it didn’t just look like an empty glass sitting right-side up–it made it obvious it was a tip jar without having to put a tacky “Tips” sign on it.
- taneq 7y agoBuskers do the same, priming their hat or tin or whatever to show what they feel an appropriate donation would be. They also regularly ‘groom’ their donations so as to not look too successful.
- perl4ever 7y agoWhat do you suppose someone is doing when they have a box for "donate to save the animals" or similar, and they never empty it even though it is stuffed full of money? Some sort of manipulation that escapes me, or something counterproductive? I noticed today that they put a piggy bank on top.
- taneq 7y agoSome of those boxes are placed and maintained by the charity, not the owner of the location. So if the charity hasn't been back to empty it for a while, it might fill up. I doubt it's deliberate.
- lonelappde 7y agoThat's rare. Usually it's actually just that the charity is selling "ad space" and the venue keeps the donations in exchange for paying a fee to the charity. It's a weird system.
- joncrane 7y agoHa, I used to do the same thing when I drove an airport shuttle for a hotel while I was a bellman. Thanks for stirring up a crazy memory!
- Vinnl 7y agoHa, I used to do the same as a child when I took part in the yearly charity run. I had to ask everyone in the street to contribute either a fixed amount or an amount per lap - so I made sure to get my parents to sign up for a (relatively high) per round amount as my first sign-ups, then hope the next ones to take part would do the same.
- mikeash 7y agoReminds me of a time I was searching for parking in downtown Washington, DC. Block after block was full. I eventually came to a street that had no cars parked at all. Jackpot, right? Must be some obscure rule prohibiting parking there. I kept looking. Still no luck, so I finally went back to the empty street. I carefully studied the signs and concluded that it was legal to park there. I got out of my car and paid. By the time I was done paying, the entire block was full of parked cars!
- refurb 7y agoThat happens in SF all the time. People will see a temporary no parking sign and drive on by. Half the time, if you read it, it’s either not in effect yet or has already expired. If there are no cars there, people assume others confirmed you can’t park there!
- angry_octet 7y agoOr you come back to your car and the tyres are missing, or it's been towed because of street sweeping/snow ploughing...
- joncrane 7y agoThis is like the old adage. "If you truly believe in market efficiency, you would never bother to bend over to pick up a $100 bill because if it were real, someone else would have picked it up already!"
- Maximus9000 7y agoI've noticed the same thing... "A crowd attracts a crowd"
- inferiorhuman 7y agoPopularity isn't a very reliable indicator of quality Yeah, after trying the most popular Mexican restaurant in Gainesville, FL I can only agree.
- lostlogin 7y agoAs a student I worked in a restaurant briefly. The manager drilled into us that the the front should be full, maybe with one gap and the back should be cleared ASAP.
- Cthulhu_ 7y agoI see that a lot - and have the same behaviour, in that I'm less likely to go to a restaurant or pub when it has no visitors, that seems to give a subtle signal that they're not really good. What I guess you could do as a business owner is wear plainclothes / take off the apron and have a coffee with your own staff. Mind you it'll look quite obvious in a lot of cases due to the staff wearing e.g. aprons or other accessories that infer they're staff. But giving away some free coffee or something just to break the ice (or 'prime' as another commenter called it) will be a good strategy as well. It requires a bit of pushing which some people will find annoying but still, it'll be worth it.
- brokenmachine 7y agoI must have less faith in humanity because I always gravitate to the quiet place. Then later on I find it has gone out of business...