Brooklyn’s namesake roasting company is another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on October 21.
Brooklyn Roasting Company— founded in 2009 by Jim Munson, a former partner at The Brooklyn Brewery — has closed its two retail locations at 25 Jay Street in Dumbo and 50 West 23rd Street in the Flatiron District while reorganizing to focus on its wholesale business.
The board of the popular coffee shop blamed the closure on a series of misfortunate events, beginning with a failed 2018 deal to be purchased by an investment group that included the former CEO of Dunkin Donuts for $22 million, which investors eventually backed out of, according to court documents.
The company’s failure to cut costs while ramping up staff in anticipation of a closed deal left them in a poor financial condition to start off 2019 — with 2018 being the first year the company did not have any growth since its founding, and reported $1.4 million in losses.
On top of their losses, a lender was seeking repayment of a $2.1 million loan that the company could not pay.
The Manhattan location in 2017. Photo by Susan De Vries
A managing partner at Brooklyn Roasting Company agreed to lend the company the funds needed to pay the loan, according to court documents. The repayment allowed the company to make considerable gains into 2020 — but it wasn’t enough to keep them afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
With the state-mandated shutdowns, Brooklyn Roasting Company’s revenue stream from its two cafes dried up, and the stores have seen only a small uptick in revenue since opening with limited take-out. Meanwhile, wholesale earnings dropped dramatically, as major buyers like Columbia University and Goldman Sachs discontinued their orders amid COVID-19 closures.
Brooklyn Roasting Company secured a Paycheck Protection Program loan for $727,000 from the federal government last spring. The loan buoyed operations only until August, when management “realized it no longer had a realistic possibility of paying its past-due rent or rent that would become due in the foreseeable future for any of its café locations,” the court documents state.
Without the costs of running its cafés, Brooklyn Roasting Company is hopeful its wholesale sector will once again prosper, and said it will keep its management team and the production site at Brooklyn Navy Yard.
“BRC believes that if it is relieved of the rent obligations of its shuttered cafés and is able to focus on its wholesale business, it will remain a viable and healthy business with an opportunity to grow again over time,” court documents stated. “Its production facility, core management team, and good reputation in New York remain intact.”
Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in amNY. Click here to see the original story.
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Dumbo Cafe Closes as Brooklyn Roasting Company Files For Bankruptcy - Brownstoner
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