After a morning of serving up customers one last cup of caffeine, Genessee Coffee moved out of its downtown location Monday afternoon — just five months .
Owner Genessee Elinoff called it a business decision.
“This area is a challenge,” said Elinoff, as workers cleared furnishings and equipment from the store at the corner of 16th Street and Cleveland Place. “The reality is we had to make a business decision.”
Elinoff said she isn’t allowed to say more.
But back on May 6, when the store shed its Dazbog Coffee brand overnight to become Genessee, then-Dazbog franchise owner that he just could go on no longer financially. A second Dazbog, at 1200 Clayton St., also was rebranded.
Dazbog president and chief operating officer Leonid Yuffa said he knew nothing about Genessee’s departure.
“This is the first I’ve heard about (Genessee) closing,” he said Monday, declining to comment further.
Burridge’s company Padbros Enterprises sued Dazbog Coffee in December to get out of its franchise agreement. It claimed Dazbog engaged in unfair business practices, including overcharging its franchisees for goods.
In late May, Dazbog filed suit right back, citing a breach of contract and later sought injunctive relief.
Calls to lawyers representing Padbros and Dazbog were not immediately returned.
Genessee Coffee, meanwhile, is scouting new locations near Union Station, Elinoff said. The company still has — the Clayton location and a cafe in the Denver Tech Center, at 8101 E. Belleview. Elinoff said four of the five downtown employees joined the other stores.
“We are just relocating the store elsewhere,” Elinoff said.
Tamara Chuang: 303-954-1209, tchuang@denverpost.com or @Gadgetress
