YPSILANTI, Mich. – Cultivate Coffee & Tap House is closing its doors definitely beginning this Saturday.
In an open letter to the community, the owners of the Ypsilanti go-to for good food and beer said that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, along with limited space, factored into the decision.
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“No matter how good every product or the service is at the Cafe, with which Liz and her staff have done an incredible job, we aren’t going to make it as just another bar/coffee shop,” the statement reads.
“And that failure hurts, but it hurts a lot more to feel like we are failing our staff and you.
If we can interject with one thing you can do for us it is to shop local. Please, no matter what, do not replace our spot in your rotation with a faceless corporation.”
Owner Sara Demorest took over the North River Street spot in August 2020. In an interview with All About Ann Arbor, Demorest said that the sense of community is what drew her and her husband to the space when their family moved to Ypsilanti.
Cultivate has both an indoor space and a beer tent. In cold months, it puts up a heated tent so as to expand its usable gathering space.
In the letter, Demorest and the space’s other owners noted that although they tried to expand Cultivate’s outdoor space again with the tent, as they do annually, the City of Ypsilanti has not approved of the installation or respond to questions raised mid-December.
“We have limited more room inside for safe gatherings that are large enough to sustain our business in the winter months. We have tried all we can to keep our incredible staff employed, but we don’t have the resources to keep fighting,” an Instagram post says.
Cultivate has become synonymous with pop-up events over the pandemic, including events with Basil Babe, Misfit Biscuits, Juicy Oistre and Pizza Replicator.
“Cultivate is and always will be about the individuals and groups who use it as a meeting place, an event hall, a place to celebrate, mourne, learn and grow,” the letter reads.
“This place will not be the same until you use it to meet again, and that time is not now, not with COVID levels where they are.”
On social media, fans of the gathering space called the news sad, heartbreaking and devastating.
This week the Ypsi eatery will be selling its perishable products at a 35 percent discount and will give all of its February revenues from new coffee subscriptions to current staff.
Cultivate Coffee & Tap House is at 307 N. River St., Ypsilanti.