An independent coffee chain will have one less location in Edmonton in a few weeks, and the owner says the new downtown arena is to blame.
“While arena-goers are keen to find venues to enjoy a drink and some food before a game, they had no interest in coffee,” said a statement from Poul Mark, the founder and CEO of Transcend Coffee.
The statement said Transcend Coffee partnered with Kelly Pope, the developer and owner of the Mercer Warehouse, in the fall of 2014 to open a cafe in the basement of the building on 104 Avenue and 104 Street. It is kitty-corner to Rogers Place arena.
“The expectation was that once the arena opened, we’d see an increase in density and traffic,” Mark told Global News. “But once the arena did open in September, despite our best efforts… that just never happened.”
“The only hole in the plan is not enough people walking through the door.”
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Mark said despite understanding the risk involved in the venture, Kelly Pope was very keen to offer Mercer tenants a quality coffee service and offered Transcend an unprecedented, no-cost lease and funded all the required leasehold improvements. Transcend Coffee brought equipment and day-to-day management to the joint venture.
“It is a very rare thing in business to establish a relationship between landlord and tenant like we have with Kelly Pope,” Mark said.
“His willingness to put the interests of his tenants first makes taking risks like Transcend Mercer possible.”
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It was hoped the coffee shop would be able to cash in on the downtown revitalization, which was spearheaded by the arena. In fact, being a catalyst project to spark increased development in downtown Edmonton was one of the key points of the arena deal.
Mark said for two years, the coffee shop managed the lack of foot traffic and patrons, with the hope that the arena opening in fall 2016 would bring in more business.
It has been five months since Rogers Place opened, and Mark said in that time a sustained increase in traffic and business has not transpired as expected.
“We’ve been out on game nights trying to let people know that we are here but we don’t sell beers so pre-games, it’s not necessarily what they were looking for,” Mark said.
In fact, he said the arena made things worse. The increased costs because of the arena opening have made it difficult for patrons of Transcend Coffee, among other businesses in the area, to afford parking, further diminishing business throughout the week.
READ MORE: Parking downtown Edmonton just got more expensive on Rogers Place event nights
“Closing this great cafe down was a hard decision for both parties, but in the end, we both knew it was the best decision,” Mark said.
Frequent patron Ellen Bickerson was very sad to hear about the closure.
“The coffee is really awesome and the staff is great too,” she said. “I just love coming here every morning.”
But the basement location meant it took her a while to discover the coffee spot.
“It’s pretty hidden,” Bickerson said. “It was here since I started my job and I had no idea for probably six months that it was here.”
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This is the second café to call it quits on the Mercer. In 2013, Roast Coffeehouse + Wine Bar shut down after operating for a year and a half on the main floor of the property.
Transcend previously had a location in Jasper Avenue. It opened a shop on Jasper Avenue in 2011, but closed two and a half years later.
The Mercer Warehouse location’s final day will be Sunday, Feb. 26.
Transcend has another location in Garneau, and is opening a location in March at Ritchie Market, a new neighbourhood commercial development being spearheaded by both Mark and Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of BioWare.
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