Millennium Coffee closes!
Last night I went into Philly to take part of the festivities happening at the Bike Stop that evening. When I got in and parked, I went to Millennium Coffee first. When I got there I noticed some signs saying that it was going to close its doors the next day. My heart dropped into my boots as I walked in. I asked the guy behind the counter what happened. He got my medium cup of regular coffee saying that the lease had expired and the building's owners wanted more money or something like that.It's a shame that Millennium is closing. One of its prime assets was its location on the heart of 12th Street. Right by the infamous 12th Street Gym, watching people parade by right outside the giant windows was a sport there. It was usually the first place I'd go to when I spend an evening in Philadelphia. I'd kill half an hour or so sipping my coffee or chai latte, reading the PGN and watching people walk by and taking in the scenery.
2005 has not been a good year for gay coffeehouses. Two months ago the famed Big Cup in New York City closed its doors, a victim of ever-rising rents there.
Fortunately there are other nearby coffeehouses in the gayborhood, such as Village Coffee House on Locust Street (which was the Mean Bean until a few months ago). They'll likely be taking Millennium's business now. Still Millennium Coffee was an institutuion here in gay Philly, so if you're in the city today, stop by and pay your last respects because after today it will be no more.
posted by Chris Krakora at 9:24 AM
2 Comments:
Chris,
A similar thing happened to our favorite local Maxican restaurant here and we wrote a letter, signed a petition and visited the alderman of our area. There were enough people that did this that the landlord was convinced that if another place (most likely a Chipotle) were to come in and pay the rent she was asking, it would go out of business because the community would not support it. It may not be too late for you to get active and it can make a difference if the landlord is at all willing to consider compromising at all on the increased rent.
Also, a sadder story...a place in the loop that had great healthy wraps closed without us even knowing. One day this summer, Cinchel and I took a bike ride down there to get ice cream and they had a sign up that said they had been closed to make way for condos. Pretty much nothing in the Chicago loop is independently owned now.
I hated Millenium. I hated the whole gay fabulousity spilling onto the street turning it into a runway. I have always been a fan of the Mean Bean which was always more laid backm less pressured. Mena Bean now Village Coffee has always been a quiet oasis of serenity where you could relax and enjoy. Millenium was more like Woody's with coffee.
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