Every weekday, with few exceptions, my co-worker Bobby and I preview the day ahead with a trip down the street for a cup of coffee.
Usually, that cup costs about $1.50, sometimes a little more, and we rotate between Alterra and Whole Foods, occasionally mixing Bruegger's into the loop if we're grabbing a bagel, too.
Recently, Bruegger's began offering a special deal for unlimited coffee for a year via its "Bottomless Mug Club," for $129. On the surface, that seems like a lot, but then I did the math.
If I drink a cup of coffee five days a week, let's say 50 weeks out of the year, I'm blowing a staggering $375 per year on java.
Suddenly, $129 doesn't seem like such a bad deal. Obviously, we could make that coffee at our office, and sometimes we do, but Bobby and I find that getting out of the building, planning our editorial calendar and talking about any lingering issues is a nice way to get the day started on the right foot.
However, Bobby and I also agree that in terms of taste, Bruegger's coffee comes in a distant third, behind Alterra and then Whole Foods. In fact, I can't really imagine going there just for the coffee, alone, and I certainly don't need five bagels per week (arguably, I don't even need one).
We talked to our Whole Foods barista about the idea of a mug club, and he said he's pushing management to adopt a plan like what's offered across the street. He told us that management said "no way," because no other Whole Foods in the country does it.
I haven't approached my acquaintances who work at Alterra yet, but I'm guessing they wouldn't go for it, either.
But why not? In this economy, getting $129 up front seems like a great idea for businesses. I know that when we sell advertising or Web development at OnMilwaukee.com, we're more inclined to offer better prices for clients who pay in advance. And while some coffee drinkers would abuse the crap out of a bottomless mug plan -- I'd be there several times per day, easy -- many wouldn't -- and some would probably rarely get coffee after an initial surge of caffeinated interest -- and I think it would easily balance out for the vendor.
If the coffee was good, I'd easily pay $129 for a year of all-you-can-drink joe. How much would you pay?
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
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