It seems like she is just closing shop. The landlord didnt sell the building or 'kick her out'

This seems like a great opportunity for someone!

Would likely have to be a bar or restaurant.

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"Life's tough, and it's a lot tougher if you're stupid." My Dad

Do you see demand for another coffee shop in EF proper?

Definitely need something like it in EF proper, but, I envision more of a cafe that sells good sandwiches for lunch and dinner, pastries, muffins, along with really good coffee, in order to get enough business throughout the day. Well Grounded's food was just ok. I ordered four egg and cheese on a bagels and I think they used maybe two egss for the whole order. Can't comment on the coffee as I'm a non-coffee drinker.

I'd love for someone to make the Old West Coast Video into a cafe coffee shop with a drive through window, since its paved behind the building. It has parking spaces to entice those commuting down Midvale that might not have stopped at Well Grounded due to lack of parking closer to Ridge. I doubt its possible though, since its designed for offices.

I've been snooping this blog waiting for the right time to jump in, and here it is...

I can't disagree more.

I frequent Spoons a few times a week and the owner has always been great. The owner's name is Ben and I'd say he know most of the regular customers by name, or at least by what they drink. I have seen him help old ladies to their cars and help blind people to their tables.

That being said, I have seen him be a jerk too. And couldn't have been happier.

The one occasion of this was while I was drinking my latte, a well mannered man (read: jerk), walked through the door and proclaimed, "Large Coffee. Now"
The owner turned and said, "No. You can go outside, walk back in, and try to talk to me like I'm actually a person."

The man did exactly that. The owner greeted him with a smile and a large coffee.

So Resident19127, trash talking this small businesses might not be the best route to show YOUR character.

(ah. It's nice to finally post!)

After mentioning the "unfortunate" closing of Well Grounded to my girl friend, she suggested The Set Table moving to the location.

With this thought, the current building where well grounded is located is for sale. Not sure if the new owner would do anything different with the space with street level commercial being the most viable option.

The Set Table is a great restaurant but in desperate need of more exposure and a better location. The food is creative and tasty. The currently have a coffee bar and I believe to cater pastries/muffins.

Well Groundeds' location is larger but more over a better central location to those who don't frequent Indian Queen Lane, plus parking is readily available.

The reason I think a bar or restaurant works best in the old Well-Grounded space is because I think "destination" spots are the only ones that can survive on that street due to limited parking. People will go through the hassle of parking on Midvale or walk a block or two if they plan on staying at the spot for a while, but they're not going to do that at 7:30 in the morning when all they want is a quick cup of coffee and donut for the ride to work. That's why the Dunkin Donuts is packed - it's quick and easy.

CC coffee shops can survive because they get a lot of walking traffic. Midvale does not see that.

So I agree a coffee/sandwhich shop would actually do better on the new West Coast site.

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"Life's tough, and it's a lot tougher if you're stupid." My Dad

Thats what I was thinking. Damn shame the old West Coast is such a challenging place to sell/lease.

Hmmm.

If I can get my hands on the link, I will provide it, but somewhere, there is research that Starbucks has done which indicates that corner locations for coffeehouses are the most ideal...look where all of theirs are.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xCiKCxfYqE

"If we can't learn from our mistakes, what's the point of making them!" ...my friend Richard.

"You are protected by the enormity of your stupidity." Mother to son Victor, in "Notorious"

Indeed. All else being equal, almost any retailer will lease the corner in urban areas above other alternatives.

There are 2 reasons:

1) You have exposure on 2 blocks instead of one. So people walking east/west and the people walking north/south pass your storefront.

2) Less importantly, you have window/light on two walls and potentially two means of ingress/egress.

(DiBruno's found an interesting way to tap this, even though they don't have a corner they managed to punch through on 18th Street and offer two storefronts).

Even suburban highway corner retail lots are more desirable because the store can offer ingress/egress on two roads, plus the people sitting at a traffic light have time to process what they're looking at and say, "You know, I think when this light turns green I'm going to pull into that Starbucks and buy a $4.69 coffee." As opposed to driving buy at 50 mph and passing one only to realize, "Damn, I just passed that Starbucks, I wouldn't have minded a coffee. But I don't feel like turning around now."

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"Life's tough, and it's a lot tougher if you're stupid." My Dad