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No one has mentioned this: once upon a time, a lawyer with capital would rent out more space than he needed, say, a floor with ten separate offices, all accesse
by pseingatl 3y ago
No one has mentioned this: once upon a time, a lawyer with capital would rent out more space than he needed, say, a floor with ten separate offices, all accessed by a single door. He rented nine of them to other lawyers, charged a fee for a shared receptionist, copy room, (not phones--everyone needed their own line) and tried to make sure that his lessees preferred different specialties so they could refer business to each other. It worked pretty well.
But nobody called it "co-working."
- solardev 3y agoLol, I thought that was the setup to a joke at first :) What do you call a hallway full of lawyers? But no, that sounds interesting! I guess it's not that different from today's coworking spaces in that "someone with capital starts a shared office" way. I do like the eclectic mix of people at the local ones, though. They weren't all devs or worked in tech. Made life more interesting that way.
- avarun 3y agoAnd it was a strictly more onerous and complicated process than current co-working is.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- bane 3y agoIt's common in quite a few industries. For example, it's not uncommon to see this type of setup in the hair salon, beautician, massage, etc. industry. Health and fitness places likewise will sublet portions of a larger facility out to other businesses. e.g. the Yoga classes at your local big-gym etc. Most big Asian grocery stores in the U.S. also have lots of small sublet but compatible businesses, so you can get a haircut, buy jewelry and makeup, get lunch, and leave with a coffee and a baked good...all from separate establishments.
- InitialLastName 3y agoMy local (major chain) department store has a (major chain) coffee shop and a (major chain) pharmacy branch inside the store; in the parking lot are a (major chain) fast casual restaurant and a (major chain) fast food restaurant (of the same cuisine).
- marcosdumay 3y agoThe thing about "co-working" is that you can lease a room for a few hours, or a week. And yes, people did this before WeWork too, but it was much harder before the internet.