Beyond Starbucks, IKEA’s Had Enough! Crowds in China Spend $0, Sleep in Beds, Play Mahjong in Cafés

A man was fast asleep under the covers on a display bed at IKEA in Shanghai. A security guard tried to wake him up for a full minute, but he didn't wake. The guard finally pulled back the covers. The man got up, climbed out of the bed, looking embarrassed. People online say IKEA now requires a purchase to sit in its restaurant. The store's beds cannot be slept on either unless you actually buy one. Ikea, based out of Sweden, The company mainly sells furniture and home goods, but each large store also runs its own Swedish restaurant, bistro, and café. After Starbucks introduced a purchase requirement for seating in China, Chinese media reported a similar notice at the restaurant entrance of IKEA's Shanghai Shuhui store. It says customers must make a purchase to sit down. Loud noise and taking up seats for long periods are also prohibited. Every Tuesday and Thursday, security guards ask people to leave if they occupy seats without without buying anything. IKEA's staff matchmaking groups often gather there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some older people bring fruit on these gatherings. Others spend long periods playing cards, eating food they brought, or even drinking alcohol in the restaurant. The trash they leave creates a major headache for staff. One worker said, it takes us more than a day to finish dealing with the trash. A reporter visited IKEA's Shanghai Shuhui store on October 27 and found security guards stationed at the restaurant entrance. Older people who were not making purchases were kept outside. A vlogger filmed conditions at IKEA on October 25th and said even its display chairs were now off-limits for sitting. The vlogger raised the issue of whether the store had run out of options or was following a broader trend. Someone posted a photo online and joked that IKEA now gently wakes sleeping customers with a reminder. Sir, please don't drool on the sofa while you sleep. It's hard for us to clean. Many comments welcome the change. IKEA is finally dealing with people who treat the store like their own home. Great, now they can finally ask people who take up space without buying anything to leave. IKEA sells furniture. It's not a free retirement home or a private game room. Supermarket Pang Dong Lai Group founder Yu Donglai publicly supported purchase requirements for seating on October 30. He also called for formal rules supporting the practice and allowing restaurants to refuse outside food. Some commenters pushed back. Mr. Yu, you don't need formal rules. Just put a sign by the door, source set the rules, and customers choose where they spend their money. A seat doesn't need to become a judgment of someone's character. Another commenter said the issue in China involves personal character and manners. China analyst Yang Bo said, Chinese people once had traditional moral values, He said political campaigns over the decades since the Chinese Communist Party took power had eroded those values. In his view, people have become more willing to take advantage of others for their own benefit. Even with rules, he said, they look for loopholes. He said the root problem lies in people's values. Requiring a purchase for seating is not new for IKEA. More than a decade ago, it posted a notice asking customers to buy food before taking Taking a seat to keep the dining area orderly, like the recent notice. It aimed to discourage disruptive behavior, but back then, fewer people occupied seats without buying anything. Now it happens on a much larger scale. The Chagi Beverage Store at Qingdao Mixi has also posted a purchase requirement for seating following the recent change at IKEA. Staff say it mainly targets people who occupy seats for long periods or bring takeout from elsewhere. They apply it flexibly. People who stop in for a short rest will not be asked to leave. Chinese reporters visited several Changi stores in Chengdu on October 30. Employees said stores in the city had not introduced a purchase requirement for seating but might do so later. Changi's customer service said there was no company-wide rule. Individual stores could decide based on conditions. Luckin Coffee, Cotti Coffee, Heytea, Manner, Tim's, McDonald's, and KFC have not announced clear company-wide purchase requirements for seating. But many people online have urged McDonald's and KFC to adopt similar rules. A vlogger posted a video on October 30 saying anime and cosplay fans were turning the McDonald's at Wuhan's X118 into a free makeup room. You haven't paid us to use this space. We pay for it. We tell you every day, and you act like you haven't heard us. Do your makeup at home. The video shows an employee urging a group doing their makeup inside the restaurant to leave. An argument follows. Customers who paid for their meals have nowhere to sit. There are no seats left for paying customers. That makeup powder could drift onto someone else's food. This recent wave of purchase requirements for seating began at Starbucks in China. Chinese media visited Starbucks stores on October 19. Employees confirmed that their store had received the new rules. Stores nationwide would begin applying them and displaying signs on October 22. Employees and customers were encouraged to buy something before using a seat. But there were exemptions, delivery workers, people sheltering from the rain, people on duty, such as nearby security guards, and pregnant women can come in for a short rest without buying anything. We also provide free hot water. One Starbucks employee said the rule is not mandatory, but paying customers would get priority for seats during busy periods. At that store, about 70% of seats were occupied at 10 a.m. It was usually full by around noon. An employee approached four customers who had been seated for about 10 minutes without ordering. If you'd like something to drink, you could check the menu and place your order up front. Photos posted online show groups occupying Starbucks without buying anything. Some eat snacks, and others even lie down. People online said Starbucks appeared to have run out of options and has started requiring a purchase to use its seats. A regular Starbucks customer, Ms. Yang, said she joined an online meeting at the store on short notice. She was busy working and did not order right away. She said staff reminded her five times in an hour and a half, which she found disruptive. One commenter suggested that free Wi-Fi explained why she had held her online meeting at Starbucks. She took a seat, used the Wi-Fi, and started her meeting without buying coffee, yet the employee asking her to order was treated as an obstacle to her work. The commenter said that the arrangement would make renting an office unnecessary. This video of a man acting out a visit to Starbucks without buying anything went viral Hey Mark, give me an update on quarter four, and send me a copy of what Vivian has first. Okay. Hello sir, would you like me to walk you through the menu? Hang on, I'm in a meeting. Just a minute, give me a moment. Okay, 30 minutes later, the employee returns. Hello, is now a good time to take your order? I'm in a meeting, it's important. Okay, after 50 minutes, the employee asks again. Sir, you've been talking for a while, would you like something to drink? I'm fine, you do your thing, I'll do mine. Okay. After an hour, the employee approaches with a firmer message. Sir, our seating now is for paying customers. Please take a look and see what you'd like to drink. There's hardly anyone here. I come here all the time. Just let me finish my meeting. The employee returns with another warning, saying he has been there for an hour and a half. The man responds angrily. You've asked me five times in such a short time. You say you want to make my day better, but this isn't making it better. I'm not buying anything. Then he walks out. Another vlogger interviewed people inside Starbucks. Hi, have you ordered a coffee? I'm asking if you ordered anything. This is a business. You should buy something. None of your business. No, this is a business. Look, I ordered something before coming in. I can sit here. They haven't asked me to leave. But I bought something and you didn't. This isn't a public facility. That's what I'm saying. It's not a public facility. The woman got up and left. China analyst Yang Bo said this appeared to be a matter of character rather than unemployment. He said that when large groups behave this way, it becomes common practice and it points to a problem across society. Another video posted online shows people playing mahjong inside Starbucks, using it as a mahjong parlor. One commenter said, They can't afford Starbucks, but they bring their mahjong sets and spend all day making a commotion. I can understand Starbucks' position. Starbucks has already taken steps to address the problem. In September this year, a store in Nanchong, Sichuan, chained up its tables and chairs. The store told media it had done so because older people kept occupying seats for long periods. is that all the furniture had since been unchained. Recent posts showed a nearly empty Starbucks after the purchase requirement for seating took effect. Another person posted photos saying people who could no longer sit at Starbucks without buying anything had moved to Manner Coffee. The post said Manner was full yet could not sell a single cup of coffee. Manner Coffee is a Chinese specialty coffee chain. The sudden introduction of a seating requirement at Starbucks has led to disputes. A man occupied a seat without buying anything at Starbucks in Tongxi Wangshan City in Nanjing on October 29. When an employee asked him to order, he felt the employee had been rude. After his complaint got no results, he called the police. Officers arrived, mediated the dispute, and then left the store. Lawyer Li Jingsheng said requiring a purchase for seating is legal. The business is not setting a minimum spending amount. It simply requires a purchase before taking a seat. He said this does not amount to the minimum spending requirements or forced purchases prohibited by law. Customers who disagree can choose not to shop there, but that does not make the rule illegal. This wave of seating restrictions comes as unemployment rises in China. Several media outlets have noted that some unemployed people spend time in cafes, pretending to go to work to avoid pressure at home. People online have jokingly called these places unemployment shelters. Others pointed out that many unemployed people cannot afford these relatively upscale places. They spend their time looking for work and finding ways to support their families. They cannot spend their days in cafes. An era of mass unemployment really is coming. An era of mass unemployment really is coming. Oh, we're in trouble. So many people can't find work. It feels like we're going to starve here in Jinhua. There are crowds of people everywhere. In 1986, I was sitting alone on the steps outside. I was born in 1986 and I'm unemployed. I'm sitting alone on some steps outside. It's still light out and I don't know where to go. I just wish the day would last longer. I dread the dark because then I have to go home. But I haven't found a job and I have no answers for my family. All I feel is guilt. My children don't have enough good food or warm clothes. My wife doesn't even have spending money. We're barely getting by and I feel powerless. That pressure hits me all at once. I can't even bring myself to look at my family in the eye. I just feel useless. Like I've let them down. Even among people who have jobs, many earn low wages. Because the real world is too cruel. Life is harsh. For people at the bottom, a day without work means a day without income. Losing your job in middle age may not leave you starving, but it could feel worse than that. Here in Wuhan, wages are generally around 3,000 yuan. Poor families, especially parents, have it so hard. Many families struggle financially. They can't afford air conditioning in hot weather or heating in winter. That also drives people to commercial spaces to use their heating and cooling for free. The sun brothers, have you paid the heating fee? People in Taiyuan are talking about heating bills. I spoke with a friend at a heating company this morning. He said a third of households had asked to suspend their heating this year. I said they must be cold. He said of course they were. But this year has the most households suspending service in five years. There could be even more next year and the year after. I asked why he said half of that third hadn't paid their property management fees either. These past two years, people have been saving wherever they can. They skip payments when they can and use things for free when they get the chance. 取暖费的时候了哈 It's almost time to pay heating bills in Jinan. That will show us right away how the economy is doing this year. Let me put it this way. Some people aren't even paying for heating anymore. People are comparing how much they've paid. But the reality is, businesses are tightening access to free spaces. An Oct. 30 commentary in Southern Metropolis Daily said public spaces should fill the gap left by Starbucks and IKEA, but that would require real government spending. People turned away by purchase requirements for seating have quickly found alternatives. A vlogger's video shows unemployed people in Shanghai quietly shifting their gathering spots to CCP community service centers, where basic facilities and Wi-Fi are free. Did you hear that? The gathering place of the unemployed people in Shanghai is quietly being raided. Unemployed people in Shanghai are quietly moving their gathering spots from Starbucks to CCP community service centres. They used to buy a latte for 30 or 40 yuan at Starbucks and use the air conditioning and Wi-Fi all day. That coffee was nicknamed the unemployment tax. But that's over now. You may not know about this, but Shanghai has more than 10,000 of these centres. They're practically the only places in the city where you can walk in without proving who you are. The basic facilities are all free, aircon, wi-fi and kettles for hot water. People online call the one in Putuo a digital nomad paradise. You don't even have to pretend you're discussing business. The one on Kangding Road by Suzhou Creek is even more impressive. It was converted from writer Eileen Chang's former home. It has a red brick terrace shaded by plane trees. The community cafeteria downstairs serves a filling meal for 9 yuan. One person said that after Starbucks required purchasing for seating, the CCP Community Service Center across the street was packed. Skip the study rooms and libraries, the best place to study is actually right downstairs from your home. The vloggers share the CCP Community Service Center in Hangzhou where seating, hot water and phone charging are free. Nobody asks you to leave if you do not buy coffee or another drink. It also has free air conditioning. According to the Shanghai city government's website, the city has about 12,000 sites. Around 1,700 are open seven days a week. The CCP has long used access to jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities to attract recruits. The community service center it has opened in recent years also serves its party-building efforts. They aim to create an approachable image and draw more young people into the party. Independent commentator Du Zheng said these centers are funded by the government, meaning the CCP uses money from the people across China to serve its political needs. Air conditioning, Wi-Fi, and hot water may be offered free of charge, he said, but taxpayers fund the entire operation. He criticized the construction of so many centers with little regard for cost. Du Zheng also said the centers serve as a place for CCP political indoctrination. He said the propaganda materials are filled with party-generated lies and prolonged exposure can have a harmful influence. He said people generally do not want to go there. He also argued that people should recognize the CCP's harmful policies as the cause of their unemployment. Official CCP materials describe the centers as places serving party members, local officials, prospective recruits, and nearby residents. They provide advice on party affairs and policies, handle internal party business, spread party ideology, and host political activities for members. The Communist Party's opposition to religious belief and its record of human rights abuses have led some to describe it as an atheist cult. Since 2004, Movements encouraging people to renounce party membership using either their real names or aliases have spread inside and outside China. According to the CCP, it has more than 100 million members. But over the past several decades, migration within China, emigration, changing views, and the movement to quit the party have weakened members' ties to the organization. Kai Xia, a former professor at the CCP Central Party School with knowledge of its inner workings, said joining the party is like boarding a ship you cannot get off. She said members are not allowed to quit. Even if they stop paying dues and ask to leave, their names remain on its rolls. But she said what the CCP fears most is people quitting publicly Because it could cause an avalanche of more people resigning.