We've always loved Cafe Bohemia. The coffee shop on Central Avenue, just a few blocks west of downtown, is artsy and casual, with comfortable couches and little bistro tables. It hosts films and art exhibits and poetry readings, and it has great coffee and fun sandwiches and salads. And free wi-fi, too. And it has a sign, reminding customers that it's not Starbucks. No ventis or grandes or talls here.
So, yeah, we're there a lot. And we didn't really need another reason to love them more.
But today, we found one.
Dropped by to meet a friend there, for an afternoon cafe con leche. A sign on the door said the coffee shop was closing early so the staff could attend a fundraiser benefit for another local coffee shop, Local Coffee + Tea. The sign also asked their customers to go to the other fundraiser, too.
You might have read our blog a couple of days ago: Owner of Local Coffee + Tea was calling it quits, but the three 20-somethings who work at the shop weren't ready to give up. They planned to take over, save it, revive it. And the fundraiser tonight was the first step toward that.
Now, purely in economic terms, one coffee shop closing might be good news for the remaining coffee shops. Cuts down on competition, frees up customers.
So why did Cafe Bohemia close early, cutting into its daily profits, to help another coffee shop just a few blocks away? Why did it send its customers to a competing shop?
"They're our friends," we were told.
A few blocks north, we drove by a Starbucks. There, it was business as usual.
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