New York Bar to Set Menu Prices Like Stocks

[Bryce]

http://www.foxsmallbusinesscenter.com/humanresources/2010/03/29/new-york-bar-set-menu-prices-like-stocks/

What's the value of a pint of beer? Let the market decide, says a new restaurant in Manhattan where prices for food and beverages will fluctuate like stock prices in increments according to demand.

The Exchange Bar & Grill, set amid the bustling shops and pubs of the Grammercy Park neighborhood, is replete with a ticker tape flashing menu prices in red lettering as demand forces them to fluctuate.

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.

[9thdoctor]

Pretty funny. Even funnier, though, when I saw the thread title I was expecting something along the lines of: NY attorneys want to determine restaurant prices, citing anti-trust laws or some such. Recently there was a story about banning salt in NY restaurants, so why not have the lawyers decide once and for all how much a hot dog should cost? Gray’s Papaya has been abusing its competitive advantage too damn long, what with their "recession special"!

[DavidMcK]

I also saw on the local NY news the other night a proposal to ban fast food restaurants in low income areas...those poor people don't know what is good for themselves.

[Bryce]

I like this because I see businesses in a free market selling similarly. Retail pricing is fixed and labeled, with only sporadic change. And though that ticker above the bar doesn't eliminate price-labeling, prices change more immediately to reflect demand.

And, on the topic of regulating food, I read recently that the calories of some food items are to be posted in restaurants.