After 23 years in business, the last Steaming Bean Coffee Co. in Colorado – the one on Main Avenue in Durango – will close Friday because of “irreconcilable differences” between business owner and landlord.
“There will be a citywide mourning,” said Erica Fendley, who has owned the business since June 2014. “It’s been a culmination of things over the past year – irreconcilable differences. I’ll leave it as vanilla as that.”
The coffee shop opened at 915 Main Ave. in 1993, and over the past two decades has offered a hub for music and the arts. The work of local artists hangs from the shop’s brick walls, and a former weekly open mic night attracted musicians from all over town.
Live music, Fendley said, was the main point of contention between her and property owner James Giorgio, who lives in New York. Fendley said the discontinuance of weekly music nights dealt a blow to both Steaming Bean’s finances and cultural atmosphere.
Giorgio would not disclose when the business’s lease is up but said Fendley remains the tenant and he does not have another lessee.
“Right now, we have zero plans,” he said. “Steaming Bean was there when I was in college, and I’d love for it to stay there.”
Its patrons, too, are sorry to see it go.
“I’ll be devastated if another T-shirt or trinket shop goes here,” said Trish Lemke.
“I write for DGO and basically use this as my office,” said Robbie Wendeborn. “If you sit here for an hour, you see everyone in town. This is everyone’s unplanned meeting place. And this is one of the coolest blocks in Colorado with its diversity in businesses. Now, it’s losing a coffee shop.”
About 10 jobs will be lost with the closure.
“I see this place as a sanctuary for all walks,” said Charlotte Emm, who has been a Steaming Bean barista for the past nine months. “Where else am I going to get beer and study?”
Fendley said Steaming Bean may have extended hours on Friday, which will be “a day of celebration” of the coffee shop’s legacy.
The Durango shop’s closure will come on the heels of the Telluride location’s shutdown last spring. Steaming Bean Coffee Co. also formerly had a coffeehouse in Gunnison. Company President Nick Hill still roasts coffee beans in Telluride.
jpace@durangoherald.com
