The Williamsburg location of Ithaca-based Gimme! Coffee will not reopen after closing in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the business announced on Tuesday.
The local independent coffee roaster and retailer will also permanently close their sole Manhattan location at 221 Mott St.
Other locations of Gimme! Coffee, which was founded in 2000, includes five upstate shops that are also currently closed; the Williamsburg location opened in 2003.
Citing “challenges that many small businesses in the hospitality industry are facing,” Gimme! Coffee will continue to accept online orders and a portion of the proceeds from sales of their “rally blend” will support their 44 laid off baristas.
Read the full statement here:Today we are announcing the permanent closures of our cafes at 495 Lorimer St in Williamsburg and 221 Mott St in Nolita. We suspended service at these cafes in March to keep our staff safe during the unfolding public health crisis, initially hoping to reopen. As the weeks progressed and we experienced the same challenges that many small businesses in the hospitality industry are facing, we have had to make the difficult decision to close our cafes at these locations for the long haul.
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We are continuing to support our NYC staff with funds generated through sales of our Rally blend. You can also support them directly through their virtual tip jars: gimmelorimer and lorrykikta. We sincerely hope that when the world resumes a normal pace we will be able to find a new home in Williamsburg and Nolita, albeit in different locations and under new circumstances.
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If you’ll allow us a bit of nostalgia in these photos, we opened Lorimer St in November 2003 and Mott St in December 2008 with the idea💡of bringing our Ithaca-based concept of world-class neighborhood coffee to NYC. To say simply that over the last 16 years we‘ve gone through a lot of change together with our staff and communities would understate the significance we place on the relationships we’ve built. Many of our former baristas started their coffee careers here (some others: successful music and arts careers) and have dedicated years of their lives to serving Leftist espresso day after day. We wish we had the opportunity to say goodbye in person and are left with a collective hole in our hearts for not having had the ability to have done so.
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Until then, thank you for all of your years of support. Let’s stay connected. We hope to see you again soon!