There were campers in retail spaces even before laptops and mobile tech existed. They weren't as common and were harder to spot but back when I worked in an in

There were campers in retail spaces even before laptops and mobile tech existed. They weren't as common and were harder to spot but back when I worked in an independent bookstore pre-broadband era, there was always a subset of the customer base that would use the bookstore and it's cafe as their home. Basically, if you've ever worked in retail you know that certain subtle signals give the hint to the majority of customers of your intentions without saying a word. Changing lighting for instance is huge. However, there will always be a certain subgroup of people that have a sort mentality, based on maybe mammal instinct, that if you mark a small amount of territory in a public space, it belongs to you to and you can therefore use it in any way you like for however long you like until someone challenges you for the territory and wins. This type of person, when armed with a laptop and cell phone, becomes a particularly obnoxious problem when they're a coffee shop nomad. Moms with strollers often fall into the same category, but it's a social minefield raising the issue in public. Anyhow this is why coffee shop owners, no matter how hard they try, will not be able to remove a small malignant group of knowledge working nomads without a daily fight. The rest of us get the owner's hints, but the "It's My Territory" people will always find a way to give the Average Joe Laptop Worker a bad name...