Starbucks once restricted the "inconvenient café study crowd"—now it offers them dedicated spaces

[Financial News] Starbucks has shifted its strategy by expanding dedicated spaces for the so-called "café study crowd"—people who study or work for long hours in cafés—to better accommodate customers who stay for extended periods.
Starbucks Coffee Korea recently announced that it is expanding its one- to two-person dedicated "Focus Zone" spaces, mainly at stores near university campuses, for customers who visit to study or work.
Previously, in August last year, Starbucks restricted the use of personal desktop computers and the practice of a single customer monopolizing tables meant for multiple people, effectively cracking down on excessive behavior by the café study crowd.
At the time, Starbucks Coffee Korea explained that it decided on these restrictions because such behavior could inconvenience other customers using the stores.
The latest expansion of the Focus Zone is seen as a shift from simple restrictions to a "managed strategy" that channels long-stay demand into designated areas.
The Focus Zone was introduced in August last year by separating existing single seats and outlets-equipped seats from general seating and operating them as a distinct area. It is currently available at six stores: Starbucks Sillim Nokdu Street branch, Starbucks Songpa Bangi branch, Starbucks Ilsan Hugok branch, Starbucks Gwanggyo Sanghyeon Station branch, Starbucks Sejong University branch, and the Hanyang University ERICA branch.
In particular, the Sejong University branch and the Hanyang University ERICA branch have allocated roughly half of their store space to the Focus Zone, reflecting the characteristics of university commercial districts. Starbucks Sejong Arts Center branch has also introduced a "Family-Friendly Zone" equipped with a nursing room and diaper-changing station, further segmenting spaces by customer type.
sms@fnnews.com Seong Min-seo Reporter