The Prague restaurant U Petrské věže wanted to try an unusual experiment in the Czech Republic. Customers of the restaurant at Prague’s Nové Město were to decide the price of meals.
But Michal Jeník, the owner of the restaurant, had to stop the experiment after one week although it was planned to last 14 days.
“The idea was to attract new customers and thank the current ones. I had no idea how this would turn out,” said Jeník.
He does not regret his experiment. “It was a good experience.” However, he admits the intention, which has been successfully applied by a number of restaurants abroad, has not met with success.
“Part of the problem was too much media publicity. Many people thought everything was going to be free after watching a TV Nova report,” the restaurant owner said.
Crisis according to London
Michal Jeník was inspired by the “pay what you want” method of the London restaurant Little Bay, which reacted to the the financial crisis this way at the beginning of this year.
Peter Ilic, the owner of Little Bay, told the Times that, already in the first few days, some customers paid about one fifth more than what had been the original price on the menu.
Other less high-end restaurants are adopting similar strategies. The café Terra Bit Lounge, which is located in the US’s Seattle, has acquired many regulars this way.
“If I sometimes don’t have enough money in the morning, I pay more the next day,” Tina Cooper, a real estate agent who visits the café almost every day, told CNN.
Other customers simply pay 20 dollars once a week and then do not pay anything on other days.
Pioneering kiosk
There is only one person in the Czech Republic who has tried a similar strategy: Zdeněk Joukl, the owner of a winter kiosk located on the route of the Jizerská magistrála cross-country skiing track.There is a notice next to the window of his buffet saying “The customer decides the price” in three languages.
“This business strategy can work only in the mountains. I would not try it in places lower than 800 metres above sea level,” said Joukl. Mr Jeník’s latest experience seems to prove his theory.
