By Nancy Huddleston, Editor

Annette Grant’s dream of success with the Dan Patch Coffee Depot is coming to an end this weekend.

Grant said she is shutting the doors to her coffee house, which is located in the restored Savage Depot in the middle of downtown on 123rd Street. She said the business has been struggling for months to make ends meet and once the city informed her of plans to file legal paperwork for eviction, she decided the time had come to close her doors.

“I’m grateful to have had the experience and to have met so many wonderful people,” she said. “But I’m at a point where I’m ready to let the business go and get back to focusing on my family and my students at school.”

Grant is a teacher at M.W. Savage Elementary School and came to the city with a proposal for the Dan Patch Coffee Depot when it was looking for a tenant for the building. The restaurant opened in the spring of 2007 and not only offered a variety of coffee drinks, but also had a full menu that included specialty sandwiches and gelato (Italian ice cream).

The Dan Patch Coffee Depot also provided a place for local entertainers to showcase their talents with monthly “open mike” nights and other special performances.

As a first-time business owner, Grant said she learned a lot and will always cherish the experience. “The thing I’ll miss the most is the people,” she said. “I was blessed with their encouragement and support, so I will miss them the most.”

She also sees the situation as a “turn in the road,” noting she doesn’t feel the business was unsuccessful or failed; rather it was an educational experience that she would have never gotten unless she tried.

“I made many new friends and my life is better because of the Depot,” she said. “I hope the community is OK with this decision because in the end, it will be good for us all.”

Grant also feels bad that it had to come to legal action with the city. “I didn’t communicate enough with them to let them know what was going on, and I regret that,” she said, noting she’s been looking for a buyer for her business since July.

City Attorney Ric Rosow requested a closed session Monday night (Nov. 17) with the Savage City Council to discuss the city’s options because it is the landlord of the depot building.

Rosow said although the rent had been late on other occasions in the past, this time when Grant was notified with past-due notices, rent was not received.

City Administrator Barry Stock verified there were a number of consecutive months were rent was late; and additionally, there were outstanding utility bills.

“As much as we wanted Annette to be successful, we are in a situation where the money owed was public money and to allow it to go unpaid would have not been responsible to the taxpayers,” he said. “This is an unfortunate situation, but there was a past record of late payments and the city must respond the best way it can to come to a resolution.”

Grant said she understands the city’s position in regard to rent payments. In addition to closing her doors this weekend, she’s looking at other options to keep her dream alive.

One is to continue to market the Dan Patch Coffee Depot online with a line of coffees, specialty food items, coffee mugs and clothing.

The other is to find someone to buy her equipment to pay off her debts.

Stock said he’s hopeful the city can come to terms with Grant to allow for things to more forward for both sides.

At the same time, the city will embark on finding another renter for the depot space. Stock expects the city will go through another RFP (Request for Proposal) process to find a tenant. “It’s a good location and good building; unfortunately in this case, it didn’t work out,” he said.

Stock said the city has other renters in various buildings and treats everyone equally. “Although the eviction action we’re undertaking might seem harsh, we’ve got to be responsible to the taxpayers,” he said, “And in light of the economic times, it would not be appropriate to consider a bailout for this situation.”

Nancy Huddleston can be reached at editor@savagepacer.com.

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