Last week in my Marketing class, we discussed Starbucks’ quest to expand internationally. During this discussion, my professor mentioned how Starbucks has successfully become a “third place” for many of its patrons. If you don’t know what the concept of a third place is, it is the third place where people spend most of their time. So, the first place is the home, the second is the workplace, and the third place is a sort of community place where the person spends a significant amount of their time. This totally made sense to me, because as we were discussing this….I realized that Starbucks is basically my third place….and last week I spent a disgusting amount of time there. Here is how much time I actually spent there…
- Sunday- I went to Starbucks after church with a friend to study for about an hour and a half, and later that day I went back to read for a test…and I was there for about 4 hours.
- Monday- I went to Starbucks to read/study….and was there for about 4-5 hours.
- Wednesday- I went there to study/read in the afternoon for about 3 hours, and then went back for group meetings for about 2 hours that night.
- Friday- I went there on two separate occasions, once to meet someone, and once just to get a drink.
Now I usually am not at Starbucks this much…but last week was different because I had to study for some tests, and I like studying there because it is much harder to fall asleep there if I am tired, and I don’t get distracted by Facebook as much when I am there for some reason. Plus, I do love going there and seeing everyone that I know….only when I’m not busy studying that is. Our campus Starbucks is definitely a place where people tend to congregate, because it is usually the easiest place for groups to meet, its a great place to kill time in between classes or meetings, and it is perfect for just catching up with friends. So if you are a prospective student, if you come to campus on a tour, when you walk through Starbucks, chances are…I am there somewhere!
The Starbucks patio has tables that are perfect for sitting at when it is nice outside...
There are always tables set up inside/outside Starbucks with information about events or clubs....
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I have a 2yr old daughter and my third place is the park because of her. Thanks.
My third place is Walmart! How depressing
I’ll have to figure out where my “third place” is. Thanks.
I’d never heard of the “third place” idea. Thanks for sharing.
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Sounds like a lot of fun.
LOVE it!
[...] this evaluation was necessary, and I did it during the on-campus Starbucks‘ last Jazz Combos performance of the semester. I am sad to report I only got to see the last [...]
Hi Steph, great post, good read.
So true!