Ferris Coffee Closing Two of their Grand Rapids Locations
I'm sorry to disappoint if you're a coffee lover but Ferris Coffee & Nut Co. has announced the closure of two of their stores.
In a blog post from the Grand Rapids-based company, they said that their downtown location at 40 Pearl St. has already closed and their West Side Cafe at 227 Winter Ave. NW will close on May 22nd. They say the decision did not come lightly but the effects of COVID-19 is what ended up being the deciding factor.
I'm saddened because we love our relationship within the communities we serve and we love the consumer business," John Van Tongeren, President of Ferris Coffee & Nut Co. explained. "COVID devastated our business and we had to make a choice to survive."
Ferris opened their West Side Cafe in 2014 and then sold the building to GVSU (to accommodate their engineering program) in 2018 but remained in the space.
This location gave us the opportunity to participate in many Grand Rapids events such as the GR Marathon, LaughFest, Art Prize, and more.
The coffee shop opened their Downtown Grand Rapids location in 2016 and catered heavily to the work crowd. But with the pandemic causing the majority of people to work from home, Ferris Coffee suffered.
While this is unfortunate news, luckily Ferris Coffee in Holland and Lansing remain open. So does their Seward Cafe in Grand Rapids which is also the headquarters and the one they plan to shift their focus on. The Seward Cafe will eventually expand to include a retail store and and cafe space.
Ferris Coffee & Nut Co. has been roasting their coffee for over 95 years now.