Imperfect end for Parkview coffee shop

by | May 5, 2023 | News

There will be no more ‘perfect’ cups of coffee for residents of The Parks as café closes its doors.

Closed café will be replaced by a grab-and-go from a trailer. Photo: Aphelele Mbokotho

The Perfect Cup coffee shop did not open for business on Tuesday, May 2, as the rental increases had become more than the owners could afford to pay.

After three years of operating, customers were welcomed by a notice posted on the Parkview café ‘s door. Owner Michelle Dancer mentioned building renovations and rising costs as the biggest factors in closing.

Speaking to Wits Vuvuzela, Dancer said because of the building renovations she had lost customers because of all the noise that was happening around the shop. This added negative impact came as the business was still recovering from the covid-19 lockdown.

“Our biggest issue was that we could no longer afford paying rent because it had increased from R35 000 when we first opened in 2019 to R50 000 a month, and the landlord did not want to negotiate”.

Dancer is planning to run a grab-and-go from a trailer. That will see the business only keeping four permanent staff, and letting go of three contractual ones.

Vimbai Mamgoya, one of the workers that will be kept, told Wits Vuvuzela, “[The shutdown of the business] affects us but there’s nothing that can be done because of rental [costs], but I hope Michelle will help the others find jobs.”

Lara Venter, a regular at the coffee shop said that she was sad that it was closing. “They had affordable good food and coffee. Michelle and the staff were kind and warm and it was very comfy inside the shop.”

Businesstech reported in January that more than 1 900 business had shut down because of the rising costs and loadshedding. This week, The Perfect Cup joined those businesses.

FEATURED IMAGE: The Perfect Cup coffee shop has shut its doors because of rising costs. Photo: Aphelele Mbokotho

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