Olga and I went for some shopping in Woolworth Ermes Olympia yesterday. We started off with a lunch in the caffeteria upstairs, as we often do. At first we were suprised as to how empty it looked. Usually there are at least a few people in the smoking area and twice that much in the non-smoking area. But when we entered, smoking area was totally empty, and there were about 10 people in the non-smoking area.
But when we paid for our food, we realized what happenned. The prices went up. And they went up a great deal. Usually, Olga and I paid about 6-7 CYP for a couple of sandwiches, a couple of drinks and some dessert. This time we paid almost 11 CYP. I checked the receipt and was stunned. Consider 1 CYP for a can of coke, for example. I don’t have a problem to pay this money for a glass of coke, if a waiter brings it to me, while I am sitting on some remote beach in the middle of nowhere. That’s fair. But how am I supposed to react when they charge me 1 CYP for a can of coke which I have to go pick up myself, drink it from the can, and at the place where it costs about 40 cents two floors below? And I am not even talking about a cheese cake for 3.50 CYP!
I was trying to find a reason for the price change, but failed. Everything else from the personnel and services to decorations and food remained the same.
Needless to say, now we have one place less to enjoy…