Terra Bite Lounge was the name of a

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

that opened in

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in the county and the twelfth largest in the state. The city's downto ...

in late 2006. When the shop first opened, it was unique in that

customer In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product or an idea - obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or exchange for ...

s choose what to pay. After a year, the shop switched over to a normal fixed-prices

menu In a restaurant, the menu is a list of food and beverages offered to customers and the prices. A menu may be à la carte – which presents a list of options from which customers choose – or table d'hôte, in which case a pre-established seque ...

. The owner, Ervin Peretz, stated that the "choose what to pay" model was not sustainable in a neighborhood that is popular with

teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...

s. In the voluntary payment system, patrons deposit their

cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-imm ...

in a locked box and store

employee Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other ...

s do not handle cash per transaction. In fact, employees aren't necessarily aware of how much the patron contributed. However, Terra Bite asked customers who could pay to contribute what they would elsewhere. The voluntary payment system is a convenience for most customers, who may, for example, choose to pay once a week for their daily

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

. In interviews, Peretz has stated that he intends to expand the Terra Bite concept to new stores, in places with demographics that can sustain a new Terra Bite. His goal is to create a highly efficient operation that can sustainably spread from upper demographics throughout the rest of

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

, where a non- stigmatizing source of food is needed. The coffeehouse has since closed.

References

{{Reflist Defunct companies based in Kirkland, Washington 2006 establishments in Washington (state)

See also

References