We previously mentioned a restaurant in Central London that was allowing its patrons to pay what they thought was a fair price, and now it seems another restaurant in Montreal is adopting a similar policy. It is definitely an interesting experiment, but we’re curious about whether this “pay what you want” business model can be sustainable over a long period of time.
Although, this unique strategy really isn’t an entirely foreign concept, and a few places have been doing it for years, it’s just now starting to get more attention as restaurants try to stay competitive despite a decreasing number of people eating out.
Although the economy is no doubt a factor for some businesses, for others it might actually have less to do with economics, and more to do with showing some respect for the community. As one restaurant owner said, “When it comes down to it, we just want to promote the very underutilized concept of trust,” And, even though this is an unarguably noble sentiment, we’re still a little bit skeptical it won’t lead to inevitable disappointment. But, then again, we have some serious trust issues to deal with…
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