This week the first bluebonnets have been seen along the highways of Texas! Spring is arriving, officially on March 20th, and we are all excited over here at TCT to get outside and enjoy the sunshine.
We are now officially open in retail again! We have decided to keep both the window ordering as well as indoor ordering options open. Our outside tables space is a great spot to enjoy your coffee drinks, catch up on email or visit with family/friends.
We are extremely appreciative to our coffee community for supporting us during the up and down of the last two years. It has not been easy for any of us and having a strong community has made a huge difference. Our goals are to stay open and grow!
In the last month there have been a couple of articles in the paper about changes for the Texas Coffee Traders location. One article in particular sounded like Coffee Traders was no longer here on East 4th.
First off, we are still here on East 4th.
When we first purchased our building back in 1996 we envisioned being here on East 4th permanently. The neighborhood was very different. We were on our block, the tortilla factory was a couple of blocks down, Habitat for Humanity's resale store was across the corner. It was a sleepy street and there were no indicators that this would all change.
Over the last 26 years, however, the neighborhood has changed. We are now surrounded by development. That change and growth has come with challenges for a coffee roastery. We could make a list of the challenges but number one is that the value of this property has created a tax burden that we can no longer bear.
We are coffee roasters. Coffee roasting, while deeply satisfying and interesting, is not a high profit business. Over the last few years we have found that most of our profit goes straight to our tax bill and that is just not sustainable.
So, a couple of years ago we made the decision to relocate. We found a location to purchase that is still in East Austin but zoned for industry and away from development. We are currently in the process of designing an addition to the building currently there that will take Coffee Traders into the future.
It is very emotional for Rc and I to think of relocating, but we are truly excited about the new space and what it will be like. It reminds us of “old Austin” in that we have land surrounding the building and it is very quiet. We are even thinking of having some chickens again along with a big vegetable garden.
Like any building project in Austin, Texas we are waiting for permits before we can build but we hope to have those in the next year. :))
In the meantime, we are right here, on East 4th serving delicious coffee drinks and offering fresh roasted coffee beans.
We look forward to the future with our coffee community and once again, thank you all for supporting us during the years. Moving forward!
Beth and Rc