Good coffee (and hotels and sandwiches), yes, but free wireless tempts them: My story in today's Seattle Times focuses on how free Wi-Fi access -- and to a lesser extent, free broadband in general -- can produce returns at least in the short-term by poaching customers and enticing people into stores or hotels they otherwise might not have considered.
Schlotzsky's Deli CEO John Wooley, quoted in passing in the story, was part of a panel I put together at 802.11 Planet last week, and he had both hard numbers and anecdotal evidence that backs up his $100,000 per store contention. Instead of focusing on the store, they're actually pushing out Wi-Fi as far as they can partly because you face a splash screen for Schlotzsky's for every free session. That constant reinforcement makes it worthwhile for them to offer it free and widespread. They've even accidentally lit up an entire dorm at a university -- the students don't yet have free access through their school, and they use Schlotzsky's connection and, not incidentally, buy a lot of food from them.