Great Marketing At Spoons
I already knew of many deals to be had at Spoons, since I was a regular there years ago when I worked in the city in the building next to one, but a decade of not working there has erased that habit. Last month, I walked past one in the morning and saw a sign advertising the "small breakfast" and decided to walk in. It was a no-brainer price-wise since it cost less than a cup of coffee I was going to have that morning anyway, but included infinite coffee/tea/hot-chocolate refills. Absolute no-brainer
It turned out that not only was the "breakfast muffin" virtually free, it was actually made with real bread, real sausages, real egg, real bacon and real cheese. This is compared to the fake stuff other establishments serve at twice the price, without the coffee. In comparison, the cheapest you can get this elsewhere is at MacDonalds, eww, where the "McMuffin Breakfast" costs over £5.
I returned at least ever couple of days to try all the other options in the following two weeks. As it happened, there were ample electric sockets and USB charging ports everywhere so I took my computer and turned it into a mini office. I'm often wary of doing that in an establishment, and wouldn't do it in an normal pub, but I spotted others doing the same so I figured it was ok. Besides, I did it back in the day during my lunch hour or after work back in my city days.
For me the selling point is the free coffee refills. I'd happily pay under £3 for all-you-can-drink coffee between 8am and 12pm and work there in the mornings but, as they also must have realised and is why the offer this, most people only refill once, or never. 3 or more cups of coffee in 4-5 hours is more than most can handle, or want. This, in the end, works out economically for them and is in fact sustainable. The benefit for J D Wetherspoon is the fact that most people that discover their food this way go on to have lunch, dinner and even take their family there on weekends for Sunday roast or whatnot. It's great marketing.
Peace & Love,
Adé