Coffee shop closed

Local Coffee + Tea in St. Pete has closed. You might have read our blog, a week or so ago, about how the owner was backing out, and the three 20-something staffers had pledged to take over and keep it going.

They had grand plans, bringing in artists and poems, making it a place to go for entertainment, for meeting new people, and of course, for having some great coffee and snacks.

They had a big party, "save our store" sort of thing. Another nearby indie coffee shop, Bohemian Cafe, even closed early that night and asked its customers to support Local Coffee + Tea.

They printed T-shirts, asked for contributions. We were there one day last week, and they asked for help coming up with a new name for the shop. The new owners were excited and looking forward to their new venture. They had stocked up on supplies.

Then two days later, we heard rumors the coffee shop had closed.

We went by. The rumors were true. The sign simply said that another great restaurant was coming soon.

In the St. Pete Times today, Waveney Ann Moore brings the rest of their story. The owners tell her they were just as surprised as we were, with the abrupt closing. "We didn't fail at what we were doing," they told her. "Somebody just pulled the rug from under us."


The new owners say the landlord got a better deal, someone who offered him more money. They had been paying him $500/week and were working on a formal lease. It didn't happen soon enough.

The landlord sticks by his decision: "We tried to have the kids run it, but nothing changed."

We don't know what really happened, of course. We don't know how long the week-by-week arrangement had been going on. But we think if "the kids" were paying, they should have been given some more time to bring in new business and re-energize the place.

A new Italian restaurant will open in its place. Galeano's Buono Vita will be "a very mom-and-pop thing," owner Allan Galeano says in the Times. Galeano is an experienced restaurateur, and we hope he does well here. We will dine there, of course; the smoked salmon ravioli mentioned in the Times article sounds quite tempting.

But right now, our thoughts are with Kyle DeStefano, 24, Nathalia Estrada, 25, and Ellen Augeer, 26. The three friends who were trying to keep their local coffee shop alive. We wish them the best. If they open another shop, we'll let you know.

Click here for the link to the Times article.

-- Ester Venouziou
Local Shopper
localshops1.com