Possibly the quirkiest shop in Woodland park has been sold to new owners and will eventually become a restaurant specializing in Southern food, according to a story in today's Gazette. Besides having a funny name, Java the Hut was the only place I've ever been that was equal parts coffee shop and outdoor gear store. It was a nice place to leaf through a guidebook over a latte, and you couldn't beat the view.Gear and Coffee both seem like tough businesses -- lots of giant corporate competition. The same fate fell on Woodland Park's other funny-sounding gear store, Hoochie Mamma Mountaineering. It recently moved to Canon City.
7 comments:
I'm looking to open my own smoothie shop/outdoor gear store - gonna call it "Jamba Fett".
Go ahead and call it Boba Fett and sell boba.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_tea
The Smoothie King never thinks big enough. He can lease a space in my new "Darth Mall". We have a spot right next to Banana Republic and Children's Place that would be perfect.
It's a TRAP!
Maybe the Southern food restaurant motto will be "Your not my father, my uncle is my father."
All kidding aside Woodland is a tough town for an outdoor store I bet Canon City will be just as tough for Hoochie Mamma.
Hoochie Mama!!!!!
From reports I got from the owner, Hoochie Mama did reaonably well up here, and she relocated to Canon City because she has a son down that way.
What killed Java was their property tax bill soared from $7k to $13k a year in one year's time, and showed all signs of continuing to skyrocket. Commercial real estate speculators have been driving up prices, and killing off local businesses for quite some time here.
With the city eyeing a $13 million rec center adjacent to city hall, pad sites around Wal-Mart going for $900k - $2 million each, and Woodland Station pegged at $65 million, it's no accident that the biggest, grandest, shiniest buildings in our little town belong to banks and real estate offices.
We're well on our way to being Georgetown, where all the local businesses rent their space, and all the buildings are owned by holding companies in the big cities. Local businesses are having a hell of a time paying those tax bills, which is why so many buildings now sit vacant.
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