For the unobservant or out of town, arriving at 1727 East Olive Way this weekend for a cup of coffee might seem like just another visit to the neighborhood coffee shop. An entity apparently called Online Cafe is planning to open for business where just over a week ago, one of the three Online Coffee Company locations in the city went out of business.
(Image: CHS)
We don’t know much about Online Cafe yet but are checking around to see what we can learn. It’s a safe bet that the owner of Online Coffee Company is not involved given the financial situation around the company. Paper went up in the windows earlier this week along with the hand-witten signs proclaiming the new venture.
Online Coffee Company abruptly shut its two Capitol Hill and one downtown location on March 8th. Owner Ken Fox blamed the high price of coffee and the increased availability of Internet access for ending his decade-plus run of business.
We reported this week that the first signs of major troubles with the Online Coffee Company business emerged in January as the company-owned headquarters at Pine and 14th had been foreclosed and sold at auction to a bank. Things weren’t any better at Fox’s leased Olive Way location. A notice posted at the East Olive Way shop says Online Coffee owed $56,661.98 in back rent.
Fox also cited four lawsuits as contributing to his chain’s demise. We’ll have more on those soon.
Thanks tipper Joe!
