Groupon Grapples With Own Popularity as Users Overwhelm Stores
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When Philz Coffee Inc. offered half- price $20 gift cards to users of the Groupon coupon site, the San Francisco-based chain of coffee shops figured it would get a few hundred takers. It got more than 2,000.
“I nowhere near projected the amount of people that showed up,” said Philz President Jacob Jaber, who doesn’t expect to offer that kind of deal again. “We ran out of gift cards, and we just weren’t prepared for it.”