A bear market in calamari? At last, now we can know
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A new Manhattan restaurant says it plans to take a page from the stock market by allowing its food and drink prices to fluctuate all day long, according to demand.
The Exchange Bar & Grill near Gramercy Park, which will officially open April 1, will use an electronic ticker tape above its bar to disseminate up-to-the-minute price changes to customers.
From Reuters:
Customers can move prices for all beverages and bar snacks such as hot wings ($7 for 6 pieces) or fried calamari ($9). The prices will fluctuate in 25-cent increments, but will most likely plateau at a $2 change in either direction.A glass of Guinness starts at $6 but could be pushed to a high of $8 or a low of $4, depending on popularity.So if one drink is in heavy demand, its price will rise, causing the cost of other equivalent drinks to drop. A rush on a particular beer would increase its price, and cause other beers to drop.
The concept ought to lure stock market day traders who just can’t get enough. And it may be tempting for “short sellers” who’ll no doubt figure there must be a way to get around those artificial price controls . . . and get that glass of Guinness down to $1 during happy hour.
-- Tom Petruno