Corporate Fascism on the Cowley Road
Water-is-best | 04.08.2013 21:58 | Culture | Oxford
Costa Too Much - Corporate Fascism on the Cowley Road
Costa Coffee recently refurbished their shop on East Oxford's Cowley Road but is it any better?
Costa Coffee recently refurbished their shop on East Oxford's Cowley Road but is it any better?
Corporate Fascism on the Cowley Road
Costa Coffee recently refurbished their shop on East Oxford's Cowley Road.
The bland corporate decor of the previous Costa Coffee shop has been compounded by even blander and badly finished weekend cowboy job that has left a big gap under a door, and skirting boards jammed up with filler. The contractors, Rush and Bodge-it Ltd., even managed to drill a hole in a cable knocking out the air-conditioning for several weeks.
Aesthetically the unimaginative ad-art and poorly chosen muzak seem designed to annoy customers into leaving after a few minutes.
Generally the Costa Too Much shop refurbishment seems to have been deigned by a paranoid military security consultant with seven (yes! 7) closed circuit TV cameras and a big new plasma screen TV where you can watch yourself watching yourself.
In addition to that the toilets now have digital locks on the doors so it is now necessary to buy something before you can use the loo because the door lock code is printed on your receipt.
Then there is the little matter of the new security guard, whose main activity seems to be flirting but who doubles up clearing tables and scowling at people who stay over half an hour.
If you want to use WiFi at Costa Too Much you now have to give them your phone number so they can log you on for half an hour. If your want longer you have to join their Club Card so that they get all your personal data in the application and can sell it or spam you if they choose.
To cap it all there is a new notice board where you can display flyers and posters about local events etc. Painted over the notice board is a sign which says... OUR COMMUNITY.
Contrast this paranoid corporate fascism with the old Excelsior Cafe, also on Cowley Road, where for decades all and sundry have been welcome. There you can even get a discount and have a slate if your are a regular customer. Some time ago the owner of the Cafe got an award from Oxford City Council for his humanitarian policy in welcoming people with mental health problems into the Cafe alongside the general public. I suppose you could say the Excelsior is inclusive and community minded as opposed to exclusionary and selfish money focused attitude of Costa Too Much.
So if you want to drink coffee in a video goldfish bowl I guess you'll be happy at Costa Too Much. Me personally I'll keep going to the Excelsior as long as it stays open and when I need WiFi I'll go to Ricks Cafe a short distance away Cowley Road which is also quite friendly and relaxed.
Costa Coffee recently refurbished their shop on East Oxford's Cowley Road.
The bland corporate decor of the previous Costa Coffee shop has been compounded by even blander and badly finished weekend cowboy job that has left a big gap under a door, and skirting boards jammed up with filler. The contractors, Rush and Bodge-it Ltd., even managed to drill a hole in a cable knocking out the air-conditioning for several weeks.
Aesthetically the unimaginative ad-art and poorly chosen muzak seem designed to annoy customers into leaving after a few minutes.
Generally the Costa Too Much shop refurbishment seems to have been deigned by a paranoid military security consultant with seven (yes! 7) closed circuit TV cameras and a big new plasma screen TV where you can watch yourself watching yourself.
In addition to that the toilets now have digital locks on the doors so it is now necessary to buy something before you can use the loo because the door lock code is printed on your receipt.
Then there is the little matter of the new security guard, whose main activity seems to be flirting but who doubles up clearing tables and scowling at people who stay over half an hour.
If you want to use WiFi at Costa Too Much you now have to give them your phone number so they can log you on for half an hour. If your want longer you have to join their Club Card so that they get all your personal data in the application and can sell it or spam you if they choose.
To cap it all there is a new notice board where you can display flyers and posters about local events etc. Painted over the notice board is a sign which says... OUR COMMUNITY.
Contrast this paranoid corporate fascism with the old Excelsior Cafe, also on Cowley Road, where for decades all and sundry have been welcome. There you can even get a discount and have a slate if your are a regular customer. Some time ago the owner of the Cafe got an award from Oxford City Council for his humanitarian policy in welcoming people with mental health problems into the Cafe alongside the general public. I suppose you could say the Excelsior is inclusive and community minded as opposed to exclusionary and selfish money focused attitude of Costa Too Much.
So if you want to drink coffee in a video goldfish bowl I guess you'll be happy at Costa Too Much. Me personally I'll keep going to the Excelsior as long as it stays open and when I need WiFi I'll go to Ricks Cafe a short distance away Cowley Road which is also quite friendly and relaxed.
Water-is-best
Comments
Hide the following 3 comments
fascism - my arse
18.08.2013 18:51
What is this thing that the alternistas have for the Excelsior ? I put it down to a kind of nostalgia, together with a petitbourgeois attachment to small enterprises - which, hey ! you know what !!! fascists were pretty hot on too !!!
dada meinhof
Worst criticism
18.08.2013 21:12
What was the criticism? A few points
a. Bad joinery - have you seen most of the shops on Cowley Road? I love that rough and ready look, it's part of the character of the place. Are you putting the (wonderful) Excelsior forward as a beckon of articulate brilliance? Really?
b. Lack of air conditioning - again, have you been to Cafes on the Cowley Road?
c. A notice board. Where people can put things up. And it says 'Our Community' - the fuckers! How dare they. How dare they what I'm not so sure of, but how dare they.
Look Water-Is-Best, I'm with you, Costa is crap for many reasons. But you've not really articulated them here.
oXo
Excelsior lavatory situation
21.08.2013 16:46
Yep, it has a loo upstairs.
strong coffee