I once read that a little bit of messiness tends to increase retail sales. In other words, if people see that stacks of books, sweaters, or any other product are perfectly neat and orderly, they’re afraid to mess with them — meaning that they browse less and buy less. But if those same displays are left more naturally, so they aren’t quite perfect, people will engage with them more and purchase more products.

This makes me wonder: can the same logic be applied to small restaurants and coffee shops? Does it make sense to leave tables and chairs a bit out of place after customers use them, rather than rush to make the dining area perfect? I’m not talking about hygiene: obviously, you want the tables to be clean and sanitary. But I’m very curious if more customers would walk in the door if the seating areas are left in their natural, somewhat random state, rather than rushing to keep everything in perfect order.