The first Caffè Appassionato in the neighborhood has closed, a victim of competition from the nearby Starbucks and Tully's in Magnolia Village, said Jay McLoughlin, who has owned the coffee business with his wife, Jacqueline, for the past four years.
"It was a hard decision for us to close," he said. The couple didn't have much choice. The two coffee giants have better locations, and it cost Appassionato 10 times what it cost Star bucks and Tully's to make a cup of coffee, McLoughlin said.
"It was just getting harder and harder [to make a living]."
Some of the regulars are disappointed, he said. So is Appassionato's, said Phil Sancken, cofounder of the growing coffee company. "It was where we started in December 1991."
Back then, the company had a 25-pound roaster in the back of the store for a couple of years, which didn't leave much room for customers, he remembers. "So then we moved down to Fishermen's Terminal."
Sancken said the café was a catalyst for change in the Village, which used to be empty at night. Change has also come to the company. "Our primary focus has been wholesale. Basically we provide people with the right to use our names," he explained. "We probably have upwards of 40 locations here [America] and internationally." That includes outlets in Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan, Sancken said. "Probably our busiest store is in Tokyo." However, the outlets are not franchises, he said. "We sell them the coffee and some license fees."
The old Caffè Appassionato has been gutted and will be replaced by the Swirl Wine Bar, McLoughlin said. There will be a 10-seat bar and table seating for around 30, he said. Swirl will sell around 25 to 30 domestic and foreign wines by the glass, as well as beer, plus picnic-like food and desserts, McLoughlin said. "We'll do [wine] tastings," he said, adding that he and his wife are opening to open their new business in July.
Sancken understands why the McLoughlins have shifted gear, and he doesn't blame them. "They gave us their best," he said. But Sancken noted that Appassionato coffee is sold at Szmania's in the Village and at the Magnolia Thriftway. "We're still very much a part of Magnolia," he stressed.
Asked if the company might consider opening up another coffee house in Magnolia Village, Sancken was noncommittal. "We'll see," is how he put it.
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