After 20 Years in Pacific Palisades
The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf across from the Village Green is closing.
Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf located on Antioch, across from the Village Green private park, will close on Sunday, September 29.
The store, which opened in June 1999, became popular not only for its early morning coffee, but for its after-school non-caffeinated beverages.
Circling the News reached out to the coffee company and received a September 17 email from representative Madeline Albanesius. “Thank you so much for your support of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf over the years,” she said. “Please know it was not something we decided on lightly and are disappointed to close our doors in the Pacific Palisades.
“Hopefully sometime in the future we will be able to open another store in the neighborhood again.”
Clerks inside the store had heard the reason for closing was that the store “was not busy enough.”
Albanesius was asked about the comment and said, “We took a number of factors into consideration and wish we could have stayed in the local neighborhood.”
Before 8 a.m., there is usually a small group of people who gather to have coffee, watch school traffic on Sunset and talk about town happenings.
Customers who were at the tables in front of the store early today [September 17] were upset and said they could remember when the store opened and that there was a purple couch in front of the store.
Resident Marge Gold, who is also on the Village Green Board, which is directly across from the store, said “That is a shame. It will leave a number of people a bit displaced, for instance the ‘beaners’ who gather there every morning.”
I really love this establishment. In my humble opinion, their coffee is much better than their neighbor across the street. I heard that the reason they are closing is because the landlord raised the rent to an amount that was not sustainable for the store. IF that is the case, it is really a shame. I don’t begrudge a landlord for wanting to maximize profits; however, this is a solid tenant that has been here 20 years. I can’t believe that the two parties could not come up with a reasonable increase that would satisfy both sides. Once they move, how many months will the store sit empty until a new tenant is found and willing to pay the high rent. Way before Caruso, look what was happening on Swarthmore with lots of empty stores. For what it’s worth, this is my two cents worth.
Starbucks, Luxe, Estate and recently Alfred’s and probably another one or two I don’t even know about–too much competition plus increase in rents no doubts – SAD!!!
Sorry to hear this, Coffee Bean always made the best ice blended coffee, they were the first and the best !