Starbucks in Korea asks customers to stop bringing in printers/desktop computers

Summary

There’s getting cozy at a Starbucks to sip a latte and catch up on emails, and then there’s lugging your printer and desktop to the coffee chain to clock into work. Starbucks South Korea is experiencing this exact phenomenon and is now barring patrons from bringing in large pieces of work equipment, treating the cafés like their own amenity-stuffed office space. “Starbucks Korea has updated its policy so all customers can have a pleasant and accessible store experience. While laptops and smaller personal devices are welcome, customers are asked to refrain from bringing desktop computers, printers, or other bulky items that may limit seating and impact the shared space,” a Starbucks spokesperson told Fortune in a statement. The company said it will continue to be a “welcoming third space.” The store policy change was first reported by the Korea Herald. Starbucks has been a fixture in Korea since opening its first store there, in the Edae neighborhood of Seoul, in 1999. South Korea has surpassed Japan in the number of Starbucks stores, boasting 2,050 to Japan’s 2,040 locations, despite having less than half its population. But the coffee chain’s crackdown on cagongjok, a term referring to individuals spending prolonged periods of time working at cafés, may indicate a changing attitude toward customers who may be loyal but taking Starbucks’ burgeoning efforts to become a cozy third space for granted. Starbucks South Korea is majority owned by retail giant E-Mart Inc. as of 2021. Starbucks continues to oversee its licensed business. For years, there have been pockets of cagongjok as a result of the COVID-induced remote-work boom, as well as the rise of temporary-contract jobs following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, according to Jo Elfving-Hwang, an associate professor of Korean society and culture at Curtin University in Australia. “It’s quite a cheap way to work really,” Elfving-Hwang told Fortune. “You can just go and have a cup of coffee, work there—but people are...