Internet cafe?

[Yinzer]

Anyone ever been to one? We don't have one yet in my city yet and I was thinking about starting one. I think people would like it. Are they popular?

[georgit79]

They are very popular still, even though home access to the internet is getting cheaper and easier. I still use them, and they're good for students and foreigners/travellers etc...though what travellers are doing in Britain is beyond me!

[nicola_red]

I have net access at work (here I am!) but the filter is fairly strict so I use internet cafes quite often to access stuff like my yahoo email and message boards that I can't get on at work. The main one here (Manchester) is an easyeverything and it's definitely popular, always packed at weekends.

[cheyenne]

well i live in a small town :pop 10,000.and we have one.go for it!! yinzer.

[cruthinboy]

Yinzer, you've probably thought of this already, but you really have to weigh up the competition: a large student population means lots of people who have easy access to the Web; also most public libraries have access (albeit some sites blocked).

I live in Manchester too - in a studenty area - and an internet cafe opened a couple of years ago. I never saw anyone in it, and it closed after a few months: there may have been other reasons, but I can't help thinking that students wouldn't pay for something they can get free, unlimited access to.

[becks]

I don;t necessarily agree that a large student population will mean it won't be popular, i used to live in Bournemouth and the one in town (as the campus wasn't there) was always popular and busy. There's one where i work too and although most people use it as a cafe the computers are always busy. Check out the amount of foreign students nearby as they use the internet a lot, also check out competition ie libraries etc and decide what sort of cafe it will be ie coffee and cake or proper meals. Good luck, think it sounds really exciting.

[Jules001]

we have home internet access, yet my son still goes to the internet cafe which is local, he goes with a group of friends and they play games over the LAN. downstairs is a Learn Direct centre, but upstairs is for gaming

[cruthinboy]

Wassn't intending to put a dampner on things Yinzer. Just felt very sorry for the owners of the internet cafe I saw which was always empty. Although, actually it was merely an adjunct to a newsagents without cafe food and drink, so that might have been the problem.

[tartanwiz]

Many a time, when I've been in a town away from home, I've had to rely on the nearest internet cafe. Also useful when the public library is shut, or their computers are down or fully booked. A great service.

[Yinzer]

Yeah, my reasoning is that we have 3 universities (more if you go just outside of city limits) and people love local coffeeshops, and it's much more fun to study at the cafe then one of the libraries. But yes, I also fear that I may be wrong and end up closing down within a few months. Maybe people think we have enough coffee shops? That would be a lot of money to lose! Maybe I can come up with a way to make if more than just a coffee shop? Like someone else said about serving proper meals. Well thanks for all the input so far, really encouraging... But yes, it is exciting