Santander Bank opens its second Work Café location in the United States in downtown Coconut Grove.
A singer in a bright green suit, backed by a guitar, drums and a keyboard, performed “Despacito” earlier this month as dozens of well-dressed visitors mingled in a clean, bright space in the center of downtown Coconut Grove.
The crowd sipped coffee and sampled gelato. Abstract art hung on white walls, and Formula 1 Ferrari memorabilia was scattered throughout the room.
As fashionable as the setting might seem, however, this was no Spanish tertulia. Not a gallery opening, either. Instead, this crowd was celebrating the opening of a bank branch.
Not just any bank branch, though, but the opening of Santander Bank’s latest Work Café at the intersection of Grand Avenue and McFarlane Road across from Starbucks.
A bit like an airport café, Santander’s Work Café serves free coffee, tea and snacks while providing internet access, places to sit with a laptop, and meeting rooms available for rent. The grand opening ceremony was June 7.
The Coconut Grove location is Santander’s second Work Café in the United States. The first location opened (you guessed it) in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The cafés are part of a national trend as conventional brick-and-mortar banks adopt a more relaxed vibe.
Capital One Financial has opened dozens of cafés across the country in the last 11 years including locations in Coral Gables, Miami Beach and Brickell. The corporate goal is the same – to meet customers where they do business. Financial services are optional. There are no tellers. Instead, these branches offer “café ambassadors.”
Banks advertise these locations as “third places” – locations that aren’t home or work. They allow for both a casual banking experience and a Starbucks-like ambience.
“I think that the customer that’s going to visit us at the Work Café is going to be the customer that is looking to have both the digital experience and that in-person experience,” says Yajaira Lopez, head of branch banking at Santander Bank. “We’re looking for local business customers.”
The grand opening of Santander Bank’s Work Café earlier this month drew a chic crowd. (Kimberly Peters/ Caplin News for the Spotlight)
The café invites customers to drop by anytime. Here, visitors can grab coffee, open a bank account, or work remotely on a laptop. The services offered are available for anyone, not just bank customers.
There is open space to relax and secluded offices for meetings and private gatherings. There are no baristas, but a complimentary self-service station with an array of coffees, rotating snacks and a high-quality coffee machine.
Santander opened its first café in Chile in 2016, and has since expanded to 229 locations worldwide.
“Why not Miami?” says Lopez.
Matteo Sanchez, a 28-year-old IT specialist, was sitting recently at the Work Café enjoying a cup of coffee. An hour went by, and then another, and another. He didn’t realize it. He found the Work Café by chance, he said, and has used it several times. He likes it better than Starbucks.
“It’s a lot more quiet and peaceful here,” Sanchez said. “I don’t have to worry about a baby crying or background noise if I hop on a Zoom call.”
FIU students Kimberly Peters and Anna Trinidad wrote this story as part of a cooperative agreement between FIU’s Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media and the Spotlight.
