Living in Battery Park City and not working in finance makes one particularly aware of the fact that one does not work in finance. So I've long since gotten used to stocking up on pasta at the same Whole Foods where bankers shop for a presumably more varied set of wares (or, I suppose, to-go boxes, what with the hardcoreness of their work), and of dragging the tote bags back home past a whir of blue button-down shirts enjoying a seemingly eternal hour of happiness outside the Financial Center. But it's overall worth it - affordable, same-as-outer-borough rent (if you get a good deal and share a studio); the waterfront; and, when not closed by whim or Board of Health or whatever, a short-ish walk to Tribeca's Bouley, home of the city's best pain au chocolat. What I wasn't prepared for was the following: in a running shop, I overheard a guy at the register being informed that, on account of he works at "Goldman," he gets a 10% discount.
Thursday, September 09, 2010
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3 comments:
It's like celebrities who get tons of free perks and designer clothes. The people who need it least can get it the most.
This is typical for large businesses of any stripe. Local businesses offer discounts to the employees of a large local business. In exchange, they get free advertising to that business's employees. When I was first starting out, I went to work for a Fortune 500 company which was the biggest company in the state. The apartment building I moved into didn't require a security deposit from me due to my employer among many other discounts and perks. I actually rarely used them since the discounts were mostly at specialty stores.
Britta,
Indeed.
Andrew Stevens,
I figured it was a matter of time till a commenter pointed out that this is a normal practice. But my point isn't that it's shocking, shocking that a large company would offer perks such as (symbolic, really) discounts at local shops. I may be a grad student but I've had some exposure to the outside-the-library world. (Plus I get a discount as an NYU student at Bagel Bob's!) It's shocking-horrifying, or shocking-wince-inducing, more accurately, but not shocking-shocking. It was just... what Britta said.
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