Coffee Bean's Free Wi-Fi

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Whether of not a coffee shop has free Wi-Fi—particularly if you're an office-less, struggling writer/waiter/actor/novelist—can be the deciding factor where to park your laptop and sip lattes all day. Coffee Bean is stepping up to the plate with Industry Retail Group Wi-Fi service to stores nationwide, which is "compatible with any device." Per PR Newswire: "While other coffee chains commonly charge customers to connect to their Wi-Fi, or limit the free time available, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf felt offering it free, all day, remained consistent with their brand reputation." According to VP of Supply Chain Paul Balzer, it's already improving business: ""Since offering reliable and totally free hotspots, our store teams have noticed an increase in store traffic as well as higher sales per order." [PR Newswire]