Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Want To Buy Java Grande?

The Java Grande coffee shop in Ellicott City may be for sale, at least according to Ken who pointed to the following advertisement on Craigslist:
COFFEE HOUSE FOR SALE. Turn Key Coffee House business for SALE. This beautiful, spacious, 2 year old coffee house is ripe for a new enthusiastic, sales focused owner. This coffee cafe is located on a busy route, at a light in a prime location for thousands of travelers to pass everyday. . . . This coffee house is beautifully decorated with large windows that allows customers to enjoy memorable sun rises and sunsets. . . . For a $229,000 investment, the new owner can simply turn the key and begin a new venture in the coffee business. . . .
The ad doesn't identify the coffee house. Ken's comment says the ad is for Java Grande. Certainly, the description -- Ellicott City, busy route, at a light, large windows -- sounds like Java Grande and not really anything else that comes to mind. I had posted in early December about a commenter who had heard talk about a combination of Java Grande and the pottery shop a few doors down -- although an anonymous comment there said Java Grande wasn't closing.

Click here for my take on coffee shops in Howard County.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Java Grande is not closing then all of these postings saying they are closing are going to scare away customers = Bad Press.

Craig Fuhr said...

Coffe shops in horrible locations better have outstanding coffee. After a few visits of REALLY wanting to like this place, I find nothing noteworthy or outstanding about the coffee at this shop.

Anonymous said...

JG is in a good location, however the parking is atrocious! There are only a few spaces shared by this shopping center and unfortunately the coffee shop is the last store on the "strip." You can't determine if there are available spaces without going into the lot first, and once you do it's difficult to get out of the lot. Id much rather go to Starbucks at the next intersection or even 711.

Lisa said...

Hey, everyone. This is Lisa, the owner of The Pottery Stop in Ellicott City. Thought I'd take a moment to set the rumors straight.

The Pottery Stop is in negotiations to move into Java Grande's space after they vacate at the end of January. If we make the move, we will become a paint-your-own pottery studio that also sells coffee, snacks and desserts. What fun! We'll gain much needed elbow room and a truly private party area as well.

For those of you who frequent Java, we hope you'll enjoy The Pottery Stop and Coffee Shop (yes, that'll be the new name...) just as much. Maybe we'll even convince you to paint your own coffee mug.

If you were part of a group that held meetings at Java, please know that your groups are still welcome. If you'd like to talk about bringing a group (office meetings, book clubs, red hats, girl scouts, etc...) please feel free to contact lisa@thepotterystop.com.

We'll want your input, coffee drinkers! Join our email list to be informed directly about the move. You can join via our website:
www.thepotterystop.com.

Gentleman Jim said...

I'll miss Java Grande, but not the parking lot, ugh. I'll especially miss Christian; smart, funny and just an all around great guy.

Lisa N said...

As a long-time Pottery Stop customer, this is great news that they may be getting more space. (Again, not to celebrate Java Grande's closing.) However, The Pottery Stop's current space is too small especially compared to their previous Columbia location. I hope this works out. Maybe they can even hired some of the current Java Grande employees to help with the coffee side of the business. That could be a "win-win" for some people. :)