http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/sep/10/high-point-coffee-stores-shut/High Point Coffee stores close
By Richard J. Alley, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, September 10, 2009
As the economy continues to hammer small businesses nationwide, it has claimed another local victim: All three High Point Coffee stores are shutting down.
Two of the stores -- one at 1680 Union and another at 4610 Poplar -- are owned by High Point Coffee founder Thomas Blanche and have already been closed. About 25 jobs were lost.
The third store -- in Germantown and owned by franchisee Tracy Gossett -- is closing Sept. 18 after being open for about a year and a half. The number of jobs lost was not disclosed.
"It's a unique time in that you had simultaneous effect where food prices increased dramatically and at the same time revenue dropped drastically," Blanche said. "I've enjoyed it, and it made economic sense for a long time.
"I didn't make the decision yesterday; it wasn't a snap decision. It was the culmination of a lot of thought because a lot of people are affected by it."
Blanche said revenue is down 29 percent from 2008. The Poplar location opened in 2003; the Union store opened in 2005.
The closings of the Memphis stores and the Germantown location are unrelated.
"I just heard about the other stores closing (Wednesday) morning," Gossett said, who also blames the economy for his store's closing.
"My crystal ball isn't working these days," he said. "I just didn't have the business coming in to survive."
News of the closings came on the same day that coffee giant Starbucks announced it wasn't closing as many stores as it had planned because of "better than expected" performance.
Starbucks had planned to close 800 stores nationally and 160 internationally in an effort to save $550 million. On Wednesday, it announced it will keep open 30 of the U.S. stores slated for closure.
Fitz Dearmore, owner of Republic Coffee on Walnut Grove, said he is saddened by High Point's closing and is offering High Point employees the opportunity for work via listings on Facebook and Craigslist.
"It's a loss any time an independent coffee company closes its doors," Dearmore said.
Karen Lebovitz, owner of Otherlands Coffee Bar on Cooper for the past 15 years, said she can sympathize with the struggle of independent coffee shops. She attributes her success to being "able to live at the poverty level or below."
Her coffee shop has more of a community-center feel than that of a hugely profitable business.
"I'm willing to just keep on plugging away at it because I love what I do," she said. "You have to know what you can live on, and you have to love it."
Lebovitz said these economic times aren't so much more difficult as they are unpredictable.
Adaptation is the key to any small business and the live music that Otherlands offers is an asset, as well as the space she has within her building to shift chairs and tables around to make those shows work.
While he is shuttering his retail stores, Blanche said he will maintain the company's roasting facilities in Oxford, Miss., so caffeine cravers can still get their fix via brewhighpoint.com or at the Piggly Wiggly on Madison.
Companies can order bulk coffee for their employees through national distributor Vistar Corp.
"Offices are the second-leading place to consume coffee after the home," Blanche said. "Vistar is a lot more cost-effective way to expand the brand; there is a whole lot of risk with retail."
However, he said he is looking for other retail outlets in Memphis.
"Retail makes up a small part of the business now, but it's what people see and associate with it," he said.
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