By Steve Moran

Could senior living be the new “third place?”

Do you remember when you first discovered Starbucks? It was this magical place where you could grab a cup of coffee, tea, or something else and hang out — alone or with friends. There was free internet access and comfortable seating, and you were welcome to stay for hours.

It became part of America, and later world culture, as a place where you could …

  • Hold meetings
  • Contemplate the world
  • Make new friends
  • Gather with old friends
  • Have the perfect mix of background noise and people for creative endeavors

It was special like crazy, even if the coffee was really pretty ordinary (let’s be honest here).

It was Howard Schultz’s vision and dream turned into reality. It was comfortable, welcoming, and reasonably priced.

It was the perfect “third place” between home and office.

And … they made buckets of money.

Then the world begin to change. The biggest change being that profit became the single most important driver, which is typical when money-oriented, profit-oriented leaders begin to take a look. They saw so many opportunities to make it better (which really meant to make more money, even if the customer service wasn’t as good as it used to be).

The comfortable chairs were removed, people were encouraged to use technology to order, more items were added to the menu — and more complex items, forcing the employees to spend more time doing real work and less time interacting with customers.

But … today, the charm is gone, and interestingly, it turns out these really smart finance guys are maybe not so smart after all, with profits declining.

Third Place

I spend a lot of time thinking about how senior living should be a wonderful cultural icon that evokes warm, wonderful feelings in the hearts and souls of people young and old. After reading the article linked above, I got to wondering if senior living could be that new third place.

Coffee, tea, some cold drinks, snacks served with free internet, and comfortable seating. You would get all the things that make Starbucks special, plus a chance to hang out with amazing older people who had enough success in life to afford senior living.

It could be a place where young entrepreneurs go to meet old, seasoned, successful ones. Where frustrated moms could go and ask for advice or simply a hug from older women who have seen it all. A place for students to hang out, goof off, and get help with homework.

This would be a spectacular opportunity for a national senior living organization like Brookdale, Atria, or Discovery Senior Living. Reach out, and I will tell where to send the checks when this makes your senior living organization crush it.

I would also recommend Ryan Fredrick’s excellent essay on LinkedIn for further reading.