My neighborhood coffee shop went from a line out the door to 3 people in it in 8 months and I think I know why

Thomas Gonzalez · 2026-09-25T03:30:03.634898+00:00

I walk past the same coffee shop on 5th street every morning with my dog and for about 2 years there was always a line wrapped around the corner by 7am. Then around October it started thinning out, and now on most days I count maybe 3 or 4 people inside. I finally asked the guy behind the counter what happened and he said their landlord hiked the rent by $900 a month, so they bumped drip coffee from $2.50 to $3.75 and a latte from $4.50 to $6.25 in one shot. No warning sign, no memo, just new prices overnight. He also said two of their regular roasters raised bean prices around the same time, so it was a double hit. What gets me is that the product did not change at all, same beans, same baristas, same playlist. I keep wondering if the people who left just found somewhere cheaper or if they felt weird about the jump. Did any of you watch a local spot pull the same move, and did they ever come back down on price?

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My neighborhood coffee shop went from a line out the door to 3 people in it in 8 months and I think I know why | Deep Dive Requests - Vivisector