Both the city and customers sought a deeper explanation from the parent company
By Bob Seidenberg
Peet’s was the first place in Evanston that Richard Walker set foot in when he first came to the city nearly five years ago.
“I had to go somewhere, I had to kill some time,” said Walker, originally from Great Britain. “A friend just said “go down there. There’s a coffee shop.”
Walker, a steady customer since, was among the last customers in the coffee shop at 1622 Chicago Ave., when it closed its doors Friday, ending a nearly 25 year run.
“Richard,” exclaimed manager Heather Whitlock, running over to give him a warm hug.
Keurig Dr. Pepper, the corporation which acquired Peet’s last year, informed Peet’s employees earlier this month the location was one of 20 across the country that would be closed, effective today.
Still, Whitlock, working the register, had to break the news to a number of customers as they got in their drink orders as the clock winded down to the store’s early 2 pm closing.
“It’s very bittersweet,” she said, describing the mood. “You know I love everyone coming in to say goodbye but it hurts. We’re all kind of devastated by the decision.”
“It is very much a community coffee shop,” she said. “I know Peet’s is a big name, it’s a corporate location, it’s not like a small independent coffee shop, but the customers that we have here really kind of make it that small independent coffee shop feel. I’ve made so many fantastic friends here. I’ve met some great people on my team. My customers are absolutely amazing. The students are amazing, so it’s very much a warm, inviting environment.”
The employees at the store haven’t been assured of jobs by Kerrigan/Dr. Pepper, but rather to apply for positions at Peet’s locations still open in the area.
A sign posted on the door, invited customers to visit Peet’s still open in Winnetka and in the city at 1000 W. North Ave.
Peet’s customers had mounted a petition drive after learning of the store’s closing, collecting over 600 signatures appealing to Keurig Dr. Pepper, receiving no response.
The city, meanwhile, had mounted an effort of its own, reaching out to the company, receiving essentially “the same message that you read in the Wall Street Journal,” that the closing was the result of a restructuring, said Paul Zalmezak the city’s Economic Development Manager, after Wednesday night’s EDC meeting.
He called the response disappointing.
“My pushback was ‘hey, you’ve been a partner here for 25 years. I think we deserve a little more of a response,” Zalmezak said.
Yeah, it’s a national chain owned by, you know, Dr Pepper and cure, but that place resonated with people, and it’s been here forever, so please, and I put this in writing, give us a little more courtesy, let’s talk it out together.”
He said the city still hasn’t received a call back.
Nor has Hemant Jha, who spearheaded the petition campaign. He was sitting with Walker at the end of the bar area as closing time drew near Friday.
Like the city, his group received a form letter with the explanation.
“It’s not like we’re asking for a lot,” he said. “We simply asked them to have a conversation with us, for us to better understand the logic behind their closing of this.”
Along with the petition signatures, he noted the many people who had responded with comments. One of the responders who he later met, said she had gotten coffee from Peet’s at its home base Berkeley location. “She said something like she only had Peet’s coffee since 1980,” he said.
“That’s a big deal for a small town,” he offered, “which also is not the biggest fan of corporations in this world. I mean, that’s the kind of support that you can’t buy, right?”
He asked if there was something about Peet’s that set it apart from other coffee shops in Evanston.
“You know every place has its own mix of clientele and also its own spirit,” he said.
Peet’s, with its tall windows, people walking by, had “a particular mix of clientele” — students, Northwestern faculty, regular people, he said. “It’s a genuine third that lots of different people come to,” he said.