File this one under odd news judgment: A Greenwich Village restaurant is no longer taking cash. The Wall Street Journal puts it on A6.
This isn’t a trend story, it isn’t a slice of life story. It reads like a straight news story. It’s almost pointless.
There’s no second or third anecdote, no attempt to prove a trend. Why is this story in a national newspaper? Well:
In the latest encroachment of credit and debit cards onto the greenback’s turf, the high-end New York City restaurant said goodbye to dollars and cents this week. The message to diners: Tip in cash if you wish, but otherwise, your money is no good here.
Americans these days are swiping their cards to pay for taxi rides, donate to Salvation Army kettles, even tithe in some churches. And at Commerce, more than 90% of customers had already made the switch to plastic.
Breaking news!
In lieu of any other actual anecdotes or on-the-ground reporting, wheel in the expert to hem and haw:
Credit-card industry experts say they expect more establishments like Commerce go cashless. “It’s very plausible that at higher-end restaurants, we’ll start to see more of this,” Mr. Hammer said. But he said the move will be slow, and less-expensive eateries may not go there. “I just don’t see it,” he said. “Cash isn’t a bad thing.”
And it’s not even a scoop. Come on.
Ryan Chittum is a former Wall Street Journal reporter, and deputy editor of The Audit, CJR’s business section. If you see notable business journalism, give him a heads-up at rc2538@columbia.edu. Follow him on Twitter at @ryanchittum.