Business faded at Joffrey's on Seventh Avenue as visitors focused more on bars and alcohol, the previous owner says.
By DENISE WATSON BATTS
Published September 5, 2003
Joffrey's Coffee Co.'s Seventh Avenue outpost closed Saturday, despite the attempts of two operators to keep it percolating.
Ybor drinkers seem more interested in alcohol than in coffee, said former owner Marian Lasher.
In mid August, Lasher handed over the reins of the business to Johnny Algonid, a fellow business owner who hoped to keep the coffee shop alive. But Algonid learned quickly that it would take too much money and time.
When the monthly lease ran out over the weekend, Algonid walked away, too.
"I thought it was going to be easy since it was right across the street," said Algonid, who owns Deli Plus near Joffrey's on Seventh Avenue.
"But it was going to be too much of a headache."
Lasher opened the business nearly eight years ago. She grew up in Tampa and had early roots in Ybor City. It was home of her first dentist; it was where she opened her first bank account. Her sister was born at the Gonzalez Clinic that is now a hotel in the district.
And the investment paid off, in the beginning. Java aficionados jammed her shop. She needed two espresso machines, two registers and seven staffers during the peak times. Then, in a few years, the flavor of the area fermented.
"Ybor City changed," Lasher said. "I watched it happen."
The crowd grew younger; drinkers flowed to Ybor in search of beer, not coffee. More bars opened, their patrons clogging the sidewalks. Coffee business trickled down to one espresso machine, one register, and one to two workers.
A few months ago, renovation began on the E.H. Steinberg building opposite Joffrey's. Amid the commotion, morning customers could no longer find parking, she said.
"I do not squawk over Ybor being redone," Lasher said. "But I couldn't stay open until the work was completed."
News circulated that Joffrey's might close. Algonid stepped in, wanting to keep the store in place. He said he invested $3,000 but realized it would take much more to keep the coffee flowing.
Lasher now oversees a Joffrey's at Channelside and owns another in Brandon. But she misses her old shop.
"The last three years had been a struggle, but because of my love for Ybor City and what I do, I kept it going," Lasher said. "I tried."
Annette DeLisle, president of the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, said the economy has taken a toll on all of Ybor, driving business down as much as 40 percent in the aftermath of Sept. 11.
"I think it's across the board," DeLisle said. "I don't think the bars are doing well, either."
