The death of Port City Java in Georgia
My favorite coffee shop is going out of business. Apparently my couple of bucks a day just isn’t quite cutting it.
I found out Monday when Jake, one of the two guys there in the mornings, handed me my coffee and nonchalantly said, “Oh, yeah, we’re going out of business on Friday.” The big rush to get rid of everything started today, and my breakfast sandwich, coffee, bag of beans, and car-friendly insulated travel cup were run through some bizarre series of discounts that came out to like six bucks. I’ll really miss this place. One of the things that I enjoyed about Port City is that they were able to perfectly convey that sense that they care about you. They weren’t just another faceless Starbucks, pulling overroasted coffee out of regions unknown; in fact, the Port City Java logo even includes “roastery” next to the name. There’s always a variety of roasts and blends, and most of them are organically grown or fair trade or something like that. It’s same kind of goofy crap that convinces me that those Natural Cheetos are better than the regular ones. They make themselves unique: we’re thinking about the quality of our coffee, about how it affects the world, and about you. See, customer? You’re special. And that keeps me paying $1.87 every morning. That and the fact that they’re close to the office and that I hate Starbucks.
All three of the shops in the area are closing, so the options are becoming somewhat limited. I’ll have to try to change my route to pass by the Caribou on Holcomb Bridge on Monday. Or maybe I’ll just start going to Racetrack.