Expand<\/a><\/p>\nFor more than five decades, Manning Farm Dairy has accepted only coins and bills, and that policy remains in place at its retail locations in Clarks Summit, Dunmore and Scranton, as well as the farm in North Abington Twp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ice cream started in 1964, and there were no credit cards then,\u201d Manning\u2019s co-owner Jean Manning said. \u201cIt started as a cash business, Paul and I continued that, and we\u2019ve been around so long that I\u2019m going to say 99.9% of our customer base has been with us through the generations \u2014 grandparents, then parents and children \u2014 and they know it\u2019s cash.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manning noted she previously crunched the numbers to determine the credit card cost \u2014 even if only half of the customers paid by card \u2014 and decided to stick with the status quo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t lose enough to warrant the change over to a credit card,\u201d she said. \u201cWe really haven\u2019t come upon losing a lot of customers to the fact that we just take cash. It hasn\u2019t seemed to impact our business. If it did, that\u2019s probably when we\u2019d sit down and reevaluate.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Manning, 79, and her husband, Paul, 80, plan to gradually transition the business over to their kids, she said the policy may change in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur three sons will be taking over the business, in time, little by little,\u201d Manning said. \u201cWe\u2019re in a transition period and one never knows what the next generation will do. My six children \u2014 all between 44 and 54 \u2014 will say, \u2018Mom, I never carry cash.\u2019 Well, people our age, we always carry cash. I have a credit card, but I use it for business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burt Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, a New York-based retail and consumer goods consulting firm, believes several factors contribute to businesses going cash only.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of credit card fraud between delivery companies and people stealing credit card numbers and running up hundreds of charges,\u201d he said. \u201cEnergy is 30% higher than it was two years ago, the cost of spirit-based beverages is almost double what it was 10 years ago, and the cost of labor has gone up almost 70% during the last 10 years. To eliminate credit card fraud, eliminate the swipe fees, and have somewhat of a prayer, especially for family-owned and -operated restaurants and franchisees, they have to go cash only to stay in business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, consumers have shifted their dining patterns since the COVID-19 pandemic, Flickinger said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople can\u2019t afford to go out as often and when people go out, they\u2019re spending less,\u201d he said. \u201cBefore COVID, 11 of every 21 meals per week were consumed outside the home. Now, 19 of 21 meals a week are typically being consumed inside the home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flickinger also believes some consumers prefer paying with cash as a way to better budget their expenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it may be a transitory inconvenience, the customers actually like it because it means they spend in line with their disposable income from the money they earn versus overspending on a credit card, and then having the consequences of the interest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As eateries face mounting challenges,\u00a0Ben Fileccia, senior vice president of strategy and engagement for the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, sees them exploring all types of options.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll restaurants are really struggling with costs, whether it\u2019s higher labor cost, or higher cost of goods, which we\u2019ve seen across the board,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re always searching for ways to either drive revenue or save where they\u2019re already spending.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the credit card processing fees continue to become a bigger burden for retailers, Fileccia said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen swipe fees go from somewhere in the top 20 expenses a restaurant has to pay to within the top five, if not top three, highest expenses a restaurant has to cover,\u201d he said. \u201cAs you\u2019re going through your P&L (profit and loss statement) and ways to save money, that\u2019s going to come to the forefront. I\u2019ve seen restaurants go the cash route when they can\u2019t negotiate with the credit card companies. They\u2019re being charged 3%-4% on the swipe fees and there might be an extra 10 cents to a quarter per swipe tagged on top of that to cover other expenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re being hit from all angles so it certainly does not surprise me that more restaurants, to combat these high costs, are switching to a cash-only model. It has to be something where you\u2019re talking with your accountant, looking over your books, and making that decision business by business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fileccia urges businesses that accept only cash to make it clear to customers \u2014 whether it\u2019s listed on a website, menu or host stand \u2014 to make transactions and the consumer experience easy and hospitable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recommend being as transparent as possible if you\u2019re a restaurant or business that doesn\u2019t accept other forms of payment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Candace Fox, manager of National Bakery on Capouse Avenue in Scranton, said her family briefly accepted credit cards at the National Pastry Bake Shop, but the experiment didn\u2019t last.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe owned a bakery in Dunmore, first, and then my dad bought the pastry shop on Main Avenue,\u201d she said. \u201cWe tried the credit cards for a little bit there but they want so much money for people to use their cards. Our prices are so cheap that it\u2019s not really worth it in the end. Otherwise, we\u2019re going to have to charge almost double to cover ourselves. That\u2019s a big cost we\u2019re able to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n
For some guests, the thought of paying with dollar bills is a bit foreign, Fox acknowledged.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot of people who say, \u2018I don\u2019t know the last time I touched cash money,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s sad that you\u2019re seeing it come to an end because that\u2019s what you always knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other side of the coin, some clientele only feel comfortable using cash, Fox said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the older people aren\u2019t (good) with technology to be able to do the card thing, and they\u2019re protective over their privacy,\u201d she said. \u201cThey don\u2019t want their information out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fox admittedly picked up the check for some customers if they didn\u2019t have cash on them and stressed that many paid the debt back, and then some.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always willing to work with somebody, and help them out, if they\u2019re in a bind,\u201d she said. \u201cI trust people too much, probably, but I say I\u2019ll cover it this time and, actually, a lot of people do pay it back and they pay it forward. They\u2019ll give me a little bit extra and say put it toward the next person, which is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
A loyal customer base keeps the business going amid a difficult economic climate, Fox added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot of bakeries closing, so it\u2019s getting a little bit scary,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re doing the best we can. Obviously, prices are going up all over the place. We\u2019re experiencing a lot of increases and we\u2019re trying to maintain our prices because we have a lot of older clientele that live on Social Security. The biggest thing is we have repeating customers. I think because we service so many people in the area, it\u2019s really keeping us afloat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ashley Koropchak, an employee of Bill\u2019s Produce in North Manheim Twp., Schuylkill County, stated the store accepts only cash or checks and said there currently is no plan under consideration to expand payment options.<\/p>\n
Brittani Shearer, co-owner of the Snack Shack in Wilkes-Barre Twp., said the family-owned business has been cash-only for 13 seasons. The main reason, she said: Keeping ice cream as a budget-friendly snack.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do debate this, back and forth, with the growth in credit cards and Apple Pay growing,\u201d Shearer said. \u201cIt\u2019s on our radar, it just, at this time, doesn\u2019t seem like the best option. We want to keep the ice cream affordable for families. When you look at the price of vacations and traveling, and going to different places, with the economy and prices going up, we want to make sure we can keep ice cream affordable.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time, we\u2019re sticking to cash only because with credit cards there are extra fees and it kind of adds up. Most people are buying one or two ice cream cones and it\u2019s under a $10 bill, so that\u2019s the route we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For some local businesses, cash remains king. As credit card swipe fees increase and small shops grapple with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[60,201,182,803,28,231,178,180,179,6519],"class_list":["post-261987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-business","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-luzerne-county","tag-pennsylvania","tag-schuylkill-county","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-hzs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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