Someday Café will CLOSE by August 15

[ron_newman]

I just came back from Someday, and confirmed the bad news. The café has not renewed its lease with the landlord (Chatham Light Realty), and the café's owner (Gus Rancatore, of Toscanini's ice cream) is disinclined to reopen it elsewhere in Davis Square. Unless someone changes his mind, the café must vacate by August 15, and most likely will close around August 1.

If you don't want this to happen, call Richard at Chatham Light, 617-354-4466 , and e-mail gus@tosci.com .

(for earlier discussion, see the post immediately below this one.)

[EDIT (6/27, 12:10 am): after exchanging e-mail and a phone call with Ian Judge, the manager of the Somerville Theatre, I have edited this post so that it no longer says that "the landlord is making them leave". Ian's statement is here. I'm going to leave the phone number and e-mail address in place; they came from a sign at the Someday's counter last night.]

Comments

[hissilliness.livejournal.com]

Sure. And the community has a right to complain if they don't like it.

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

I suppose you're right.

I do write to newspapers when I see stuff I don't like.

I just feel a little uncomfortable about publishing someone's number and suggesting people calll. That seems a little reactionary.

I don't think the landlord owes the community anything.

(Don't get me wrong. I *like* the Someday, but I just don't see something like this happening in many places. In Davis, yes. But it just sorta strikes me as strange.)

My opinion only.

[sarah-raz.livejournal.com]

How is that "reactionary"? It seems like a reasonable thing to do. Businesses and businesspeople do have a civic duty to the community in which they do business.

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

This is an intriguing discussion.

Do business people really have a civic duty to their communities?

I suppose ethically you could argue that they do, but certainly, legally, they don't. A businessman's objective is to make money. (Certainly you could agree he might be able to do that better by working with the community).

[unferth.livejournal.com]

True, but if we're speaking in terms of legal duties and rights, there's not duty for the public to be nice to the businessman either. Especially if it's a business number listed above. I'd be less happy about it if it were a home number.

I wouldn't really expect public sentiment to change what is probably a purely financial decision, but there's no reason not to express it. Part of making a business decision that affects the public (which kicking the Someday out certainly does) involves the public bitching about how you're affecting them.

Basically, it's an argument that cuts both ways - the landlord's right to dispose of his property as he sees fit is not limited by my right to tell him I don't like the decisions he's making about his property. There are ways of doing so that are reasonable to restrict (notes tied to bricks thrown through windows are generally frowned upon, for instance) but basic stuff like a business phone number and email address is a long way from harassment.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Word.

Someday is a nice, quiet alternative when Diesel is too "much," and it's some people's main cafe. The landlord can evict, but Someday's owner could be made more aware of how valued his establishment is and still would be if the right new space were available.

[liamstliam.livejournal.com]

I agree entirely with you on this. I think it's important to let him know he's appreciated.

I am certainly *not* arguing that the Someday is not appreciated or somehow *should* be closed.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Except that his establishment is not very profitable and he's actually been thinking of closing it for 5+ years. I lived with a former Someday Cafe manager and the crew there was under perma-low morale (this was 2002-2003, btw) because Gus was constantly yuppie-ifying (in terms of the look and changes in policies) the place to make it more profitable with little success.

My hunch is that Gus doesn't care how much people love it because it's not turning a viable profit to even break even. It's not that he doesn't care it's just, well, how long can you expect someone to work for less than $0 to keep a business going?

[ron_newman]

Obviously we can't expect someone to keep a money-losing business going indefinitely. But I do wonder why he hasn't been able to make it profitable. Diesel has expanded and is still jammed. Starbucks inexplicably closes at 9 or 10 pm. The demand seems to exist for another coffee place. (And for another ice cream shop, for that matter, given the lines at JP Licks.)

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I can tell you a few reasons why it wasn't profitable:

1. At Diesel there is a real emphasis at community meet-ups (at least the ones I've attended) to buy something while there to help sustain a business that supports the community by offering essentially free meeting space.

2. Many "regulars" at the Someday rarely paid for anything. I remember when the staff collectively agreed that they would stop giving things away to friends and charge $1 for any beverage to "regulars" and friends rather than give stuff away because the store was doing so badly.

3. They don't sell food. The sell pre-made sandwiches and ice cream but they lose market share for every person who's looking for a light meal.

4. Someday Cafe goers are more solitary (in my experience). If I am alone and I want to be guaranteed to run into someone I know, chat, eat, hang out then I go to Diesel. If I want to plug in and be left alone, I go to Someday. The fact that people go to Diesel for "community" means they draw more people.

5. There is perpetual conflict between the employees and the owners about the "vision" for the store. In the three years when I knew most of the staff and employee managers they were all, for the most part, socialist-anarchist types who didn't believe in things like charging more for a premium product (or offering a premium product) or in turning the music down or in re-arranging the furniture to fit more people, etc. They had a beatniky vision of a coffeehouse that actually ran counter to the type of coffeehouse that makes a profit. I feel like the ownership of Diesel and employees have a shared vision of a community space that also turns a profit so that people can make a living.

Just my $0.02

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

Not turning the music down was the most annoying thing ever. I mean, how hard is it to let people, you know, talk?

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

But it's Indie Rock Coffeeshop and The Man can't silence US ... yanno?

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

Pretty much.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I'm being a bit snarky ... I did like the Someday despite some of its lesser points. I just also understand closing it from a business perspective.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

I know. That business analysis was really enlightening and confirmed my own (unsubstantiated) opinions. Thanks!

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

It was just weird because they'd all hang out at our house (like have special unofficial staff meetings) in our co-op house where they'd talk about how misguided Gus was, how he didn't "get it." At one point a group of them was going to go off and start their own coffeehouse in Union Square (no idea if the Sherman is being run by ex-Someday staff since I've never been but that was the site they were eyeing).

And on the one hand a lot of the thigns Gus did do made the place less "fun" and less hang-out-y but on the other hand the shop was losing money month after month, year after year and they'd complain anytime something was done to try to stem the hemmoraghing.

[iscari0t.livejournal.com]

Heh... that's why I liked it. =)

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

What, because you couldn't hear people for the music?

[iscari0t.livejournal.com]

Because I could hear both the people and the music. =)

[ron_newman]

I often stop at Someday for coffee and pastry on my way into the T stop. It's in exactly the right place for that, and ought to do well with such traffic.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I thought so too. It's the closest. Location alone should help but it doesn't ... that always confounded me.

[l33tminion]

Icon l33t! Any chance I can steal that?

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Sure.

[l33tminion]

Thanks!

[yagagriswold.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but if its Mr Crepe moving in, I might call the landlord to thank them.