Coffee shop's mystic powers

Wed Oct 28 2009 17:27:54

The sheer number of coffee houses in Tel Aviv has prompted one innovative chain to make sure customers keep coming back for more - by foretelling their future.

Ilans Coffee Houses have fifteen sites across the city and now, after one day's training by a mystic mentor of Gypsy origin, staff can read customer's coffee grounds.

The service, provided free of charge with a cup of coffee, is part of a campaign to boost sales in the highly competitive Israeli coffee market.

Marketing Manager Michal Steg is behind the scheme: "You feel you are unique and that is a good feeling and you would like to go there again."

After receiving free advice about his future from a trained waitress, Amit Pinchuk said he was confident the gimmick would draw customers back: "It can be something different, you know, some people will probably connect to that, you know, if you believe in that, it can definitely be something surprising."

The staff promise to alert customers to potential woes, but are trained to focus on the good news.

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