At Cost Cafe Experience
on Mar 20, 2012
I visited the At Cost Cafe yesterday afternoon while it was parked west of Union Square in New York. The experience was fantastic. Hats off to Vanguard for trying something interesting and executing it very well.
At 12:30 yesterday the truck wasn’t crowded (see picture below). I was the sixth person in line and couldn’t resist: I asked two quick questions to the person ahead of me and the person behind me.
Do you know what Vanguard does?
- One person immediately said he has a Vanguard IRA and loves the service and prices. He was excited to stop by. I followed up to see how far he went out of his way. He said “2 blocks.” (That’s a lot in New York terms.)
- The other person said she thought they manage “retirement money or something.” I asked her why she thought that and she said because her parents get account statements from Vanguard, so she recognized the brand.
Why are they selling coffee for so little?
- The current Vanguard IRA client said, very directly, “because they are all about saving you money by managing money efficiently.” I stopped there.
- The second person wasn’t sure but thought she should look into why.
So there you have it: my completely unscientific and unreliable survey. If every duo visiting the truck is like these two, Vanguard will raise awareness and interact with clients at a breathtaking pace.
