What does the Manner one-barista incident say about coffee shop staffing?
A customer at a Manner store in Fuzhou threw cups and labels from the counter into the preparation area after a coffee was taken by mistake, and video of the scene spread quickly online. Only one employee was on duty. Manner later said an employee had reminded the customer about the mix-up, which may have caused the outburst.
The footage renewed complaints about Manner's one-person shift model. Regular customers said waits often exceed ten minutes at peak hours, and onlookers noted that stores they visit appear to run with a single worker. Front Street Coffee, a daily specialty coffee culture magazine, followed the incident and gathered responses from the parties involved.
Recently, a conflict between a customer and an employee occurred at a Manner store in Fuzhou, and related videos sparked widespread discussion online. In the footage, a customer repeatedly threw cups, labels, and other items from the counter into the preparation area, visibly very agitated, while only one employee was on duty in the store. The store later responded that the incident began when an employee reminded the customer after a coffee was taken by mistake, which may have upset the customer. The incident not only brought Manner's long-criticized "one-person shift" problem to the surface again, but also led many regular customers to complain about excessively long waiting times. Front Street Coffee follows industry developments, and this article sorts out the course of the incident and responses from various parties.
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Recently, a netizen in Fuzhou, Fujian, filmed a scene witnessed at a local Manner store and posted the video online, quickly attracting a large number of netizens to watch and discuss.
From this short video, a customer stands in front of the counter, grabs drink cups, labels, and other items from the countertop, and throws them one after another toward the inside of the counter. During this, he is extremely emotional, pointing toward the counter while shouting loudly at the employee in the preparation area. However, because the person filming was outside the store, the man's specific words cannot be heard clearly in the video. Only a voiceover appears at the end, roughly meaning, "If you can't wait, then don't order. It's too scary. There's only one person working there."
It is worth noting that there were still many other customers in the store at the time. The sudden situation frightened everyone present, and they crowded into the corners of the store to avoid it. In the filmed footage, the Manner employee on duty that day never appears, and no one stepped forward to intervene throughout the whole process.
After the video spread, many onlookers strongly agreed with that voiceover: "Putting everything else aside, every Manner I've seen always has only one employee working, one person doing all the work." Manner's regular customers also complained one after another that when they go to buy coffee, they always have to wait more than ten minutes, and during peak hours, a cup of coffee can even take more than half an hour or longer to get. They believe the brand should take user feedback seriously and improve the understaffing at its stores as soon as possible.
In response to this matter, a media reporter located the store involved based on the video footage and asked inside the store about the specific circumstances on the day of the incident. It is reported that the store is located in a local city plaza in Fuzhou. Store staff confirmed that what was captured in the video occurred on April 4.
As for why the conflict broke out, the staff account differs slightly from the video voiceover, saying, "It was just that the coffee was taken by mistake, and our employee reminded him, and he may have felt embarrassed and got angry." The employee also revealed that the customer involved ran off after venting in the store and leaving a mess. Fortunately, no other customers or employees in the store were injured by the cups and other items thrown randomly by the customer.
After the incident, the employee called the police immediately, but the police have not yet found the customer who smashed up the store in the video. The store said it can only wait for news from the police now, and once the person involved is found, compensation for the store's losses will definitely be sought. The reporter then contacted the local police station to learn about progress. The officer on duty said they had already intervened and handed the matter over to other officers for continued follow-up.
At present, the store involved is still operating normally. As of press time, Manner has not yet made any response to this conflict.
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