Page 5 - IAV Digital Magazine #624

Starbucks Korea Bans Customers From Bringing Desktops, Printers
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQwjuXijNU4
By Ben Hooper
Aug. 11 (UPI) -
- Signs have been posted at Starbucks loca- tions in South Korea informing customers that they will no longer be allowed to set up desktop com- puters, printers and multi-outlet power strips at the company's cafes.
Starbucks Korea posted the notices at all of its branches in the country, and they also state cus- tomers will not be allowed to set up large partitions or
leave their belong- ings unattended at tables for long periods of time.
The policy targets a group of cus- tomers known col- loquially as "cagongjok," a term combining the Korean words for "cafe," "study" and "tribe." It refers to cus- tomers who spend several hours studying or doing office work in the businesses. They are also some- times referred to as "cafe squat- ters."
The move comes
after numerous complaints from other customers about people tak- ing up too much space with their office equipment. Several photos showing cus- tomers with elabo- rate setups inside cafes have gone viral online.
Starbucks Korea said laptops are still allowed inside the cafes and people are still welcome to work or study inside the businesses pro- vided they do not take up an exces- sive amount of space.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine