New Haven Independent

Posted by: robn | January 28, 2009 9:38 AM

Heartbreaking...people should really consider local businesses with good products prior to settgin foot in a Starbucks or a Walmart.

Posted by: Jude | January 28, 2009 10:30 AM

I am sorry to say that I didn't know this coffee shop had been open for business & I live in Fair Haven. I would have supported it. A couple other coffee shops have tried to prosper in that location but have had to close. I wish that weren't the case. Fair Haven can use some places like this.

Posted by: Fair haven Res | January 28, 2009 10:56 AM

Absent from this article is how Joel Schiavone's land-lording skills only contributed to Mark's demise. The building was in dire need of repairs that were neglected by Joel. We have a wine shop and flower shop that are singing similar songs of leaking roofs crumbling structures. This business's failure is also a result of Joel's attempt to play monopoly with our neighborhood.

You'll be missed Mark.

Posted by: Elizabeth | January 28, 2009 11:54 AM

Getting this news has made me very sad. I was hoping that Mark would be able to hang on long enough to benefit from the hoped-for improvement in the economy under our new President. Whatever comes, I'm still one of his oldest and most ardent supporters. The best of everything, Mark.

Posted by: Bare Beans Coffee | January 28, 2009 12:15 PM

Thank you, Alan for the article and for everyone's comments.

We will remain OPEN through February 13th to the public and via the internet and home delivery through the end of March.

Posted by: ChuckP | January 28, 2009 12:48 PM

While the demise of this business is sad news, it is also sad that it wasn't really given a chance to win by its owner. Opening a business from 6 AM to 11AM doesn't give you enough time to make enough gross revenue to pay the bills. Based on estimates, he would have had to sell a coffee every 2 minutes that he was open. Sounds easy but unless your a national chain with a heavy following, its very very difficult.

Also, if you serve food, you're bathrooms have to work and be clean. I have no idea why he didn't have a functioning bathroom for "several months" but that just can't happen.

There should be a New Haven small business alliance where business owners can trade advice. I'd be happy to help other business owners out. Especially during these tough times when everything is on the line.

Posted by: JP | January 28, 2009 1:01 PM

Has anyone noticed the downtown kinko's closed last week. It seems like at least they should have been able to make it.

Posted by: jawbone | January 28, 2009 1:28 PM

There is no reason to go to Kinko's unless you like to be ignored. Allegra and Tyco are much better and "locally" owned. Even the grumpy guy near Anna Liffey's on Church is better than Kinkos.
New Haven isn't really much of a national chain kind of downtown for some reason.

Posted by: DAFeder | January 28, 2009 2:11 PM

New Haven has no idea what it's missing with the closing of Bare Beans -- the coffee and the atmosphere are great. Does New Haven know what it's missing with the inability or unwillingness to take advantage of that beautiful part of our waterfront?

David

Posted by: jade | January 28, 2009 2:23 PM

i love mark's coffee. i'll miss it immensely. wish more people felt the same way so he could thrive. i completely understand and support your decision...i'm a business owner myself. a lot of people don't understand (chuckp) that if you're not bringing in enough money, but you're spending a lot, you have to make the tough decision...you can't simply "hang in there." nobody is offering to pay your mortgage to keep you in business! i wish! good luck, mark.

Posted by: Steven | January 28, 2009 4:04 PM

Great coffee. Get it while you still can!

We'll miss you, Mark. Thank you so much.

Posted by: 34421 | January 28, 2009 6:01 PM

If smoking were still legal, I think Bare Beans might have made it.

Posted by: Chef Keem | January 28, 2009 7:30 PM

I'm so sorry to hear the news, Mark. I appreciate you as a very kind and decent wholesale customer and fellow food & drink entrepreneur. Good luck for your future, my friend!
-Chef Keem
Agasweet flavored agave nectar

Posted by: Kathleen | January 28, 2009 8:43 PM

So sorry to hear about Bare Beans. It's a great company, run by a great guy. One question for Allan Appel: In this sentence: "They had also bought some of his five pound bags of free trade, organic brew at green markets," did you mean to say "fair" trade, rather than "free" trade? Thanks.

Posted by: David Levy | January 28, 2009 8:44 PM

Mark, it's so sad that you are closing shop. As a vendor I will miss the business, but really, as a fellow small business owner I'll miss the fact that you were doing what you loved and had to put an end to that. My hope is that you'll try again...and again, if necessary until you find that perfect cafe of your dreams.
The best of luck to you.
David Levy, Jake's Natural Fine Foods, Austin, Tx

Posted by: Drop the Hammer | January 29, 2009 8:39 AM

I regret not visisting more. However as a neighbor with children, the one thing that kept my family and I from visiting was the unsafe walking conditions on Quinnipiac ave. There is no way we were going to walk our 3 little children down that speedway called Quinnipiac Ave. This is another example of how lack of traffic enforcement can hurt a neighborhood.
We're sorry to see you go!

Posted by: Joe | January 29, 2009 10:14 AM

I don't know how much of the business was based on local walk-in customers, but it would seem to me Fair Haven would be the last place for a business like this. High end coffee is a luxury item, and I don't exactly associate Fair Haven with customers with lots of disposible income. I can see a place like this surviving somewhere like Guilford or Woodbridge, but not in Fair Haven. If their business model isn't dependent on location, then my point is moot.

Every time I drive through Fair Haven I pray nobody hits my car, because chances that the other guy has auto insurance is practically nil.

This isn't a knock on Fair Haven. It's just the truth. BTW, I grew up, lived, & went to school in Fair Haven.

Posted by: jawbone | January 29, 2009 11:24 AM

It really hasn't happened for Fair Haven has it? My wife and I looked at houses in Fair Haven 10 years ago when we were ready to start a family. We decided against it because of the very reasons listed above. There was a lot of hope years ago that Fair Haven would turn out to be a good community to invest in but the turnaround has been really, really slow. Now with the devestated economy I bet we are another 10 years out from seeing any real positive improvement in Fair Haven.

Posted by: DEZ | January 29, 2009 3:55 PM

I only hit Bare Beans twice for, you got it, coffee beans. The product was great, and we are sore to loose yet another establishment at this location. Unfortunately, this particular building is part of a stalled project that we are hopeful will receive new ownership and rehabilitation. As to 'Jawbone' above, Fair Haven has drastically changed for the better in 10 years. I was one of those people that bought 10 years ago, for a song, and have seen VAST improvements with Martins (Kiraku, Stillwater), 1 Grand (from an empty shell), 185-195 Front Street (to a planned, money in hand, mixed use development), Waucoma (Pine Orchard grade docks), Fair Haven Marina (The Dostie/Fitch Team of Excellence and coming this spring Madi and Mia's for deli and coffee needs), Lewis Street Park Redo (Lowes Heroes and a few neighborhood ones to boot), Friends of Chatham Square, Dover Beach, and Riverview (URI Greenspaces all, active for over 13 years), not to mention the community groups (QRCG, CSNA). All in all, Fair Haven has been a terrific neighborhood to invest in. Is it perfect? No. Is it East Rock? We don't want it to be. Is it symbolic of other riverine city's in the Northeast? Yes. We're all going through it, and will get through it, together. The key is to become involved and be part of the solution. It's scary to be part of something so tenuous sometimes, but with that investment comes real change.

Posted by: Nan | January 29, 2009 10:22 PM

Best wishes for the future, Mark. Everybody loves you and loves your beans.

Posted by: robn | January 30, 2009 12:48 PM

DEZ,

Is there something wrong with East Rock?

Posted by: DEZ | January 30, 2009 1:47 PM

No ROBN, there is nothing wrong with East Rock. As you well know, East Rock is snarked as the 'best' place in New Haven to live, and Fair Haven the 'not so much'. My comment was geared to the nature of Fair Haven as being both a melting pot historically, and a neighborhood where one can still afford to purchase or lease at a reasonable rate. We all share in the wealth of crime. We like to joke that cars stolen in East Rock end up in Fair Haven one way or the other! (that was humor.)

Posted by: mike | January 31, 2009 10:11 AM

The best coffee in town hands down... well folks, all I can say is buy it while you still can. I'll be stocking up.

its too bad this state is so hooked on chain coffee. dunkin donut makes me sick

Posted by: Mark | February 2, 2009 7:54 AM

Perhaps America's love affair with spending a lot of money on a cheap commodity is ending and that has contributed to the demise of this luxury bean store? BTW note too that Starbucks is suffering greatly, its not just the small store owner that this new economy is hitting. While one might think to cheer the sagging profits of the multi national, I'm sure the many many employees put out of work are not.

Posted by: JackNH | February 2, 2009 7:22 PM

Dez is right, but so is Joe. Fair Haven has people who care, even people who invest money in it! Like me. But get hit by a car, as I have three times in the past six years? They're off like a bullet-- no insurance, I'd guess, and probably no license either. It's bumper cars here.

Posted by: Frank Haven | February 3, 2009 10:51 AM

Great coffee! Buy it while you can. Hands down the best roasted coffee outside NYC.