Pete Freedman
The Pearl Cup To Close Its Henderson Location, Austin's Houndstooth Coffee To Move In.
Last we spoke with the ownership at the Pearl Cup, things were going great. Business at the coffee company's original Henderson Avenue location was good, the shop's second location in Downtown Dallas was “doing very well,” and word of the shop's third location — this one in Richardson — had just broke.
The Pearl Cup, at that time, seemed an unstoppable force, its lone let-down coming when an attempt at crowdsourcing a mobile Pearl Cup truck fell short of reaching its goals. This was but a slight bump in the road, though, as ownership was then able to open yet another Pearl Cup spot in the Arts District, next to the Winspear Opera House.
But rumors abounded in recent months that business had slowed for the growing coffee chain. And, now, those rumors have confirmed as CultureMap broke the news that an Austin-based chain, Houndstooth Coffee, would be taking over the Pearl Cup's Henderson Avenue location.
That entity will formally open in the spring. In the meantime, business will operate as usual for the Pearl Cup, until its door close for good on December 23.
Yesterday, calls made to Pearl Cup owner Carlene Saelg in an attempt to find out more information on the closure were not returned.
Today, however, ownership sent out a press release confirming the news. You can read that statement in full below.
December 6, 2013 – (DALLAS, TX) It’s a sad day when you have to announce the closing of your first coffee shop location. We opened Pearl Cup Coffee when Henderson Avenue didn’t have much to offer other than a handful of bars. We had a hand in building the Dallas coffee culture to what it is today, and we are quite proud of that feat, but the incredibly high rents are simply not sustainable for a true coffee shop. Opening on Henderson Avenue was a strategic move that we hoped would allow us to grow as the street gained in popularity.
Throughout it all we haven’t been interested in being something that we aren’t. Our vision was not a restaurant with coffee, or a bar with coffee. Simply wanting to serve great coffee in a welcoming environment has always been our top priority. We are very disappointed that we were unsuccessful at negotiating an affordable rent structure and that we will no longer be a part of this neighborhood.
We still have our three other locations: one in the Arts District next to the Winspear Opera House, one at St. Paul Place in Downtown Dallas on the corner of Ross and St. Paul and our Richardson location in II Creeks Plaza on Custer Rd.
We invite all of our wonderful and loyal customers to visit any of our other locations to get your Pearl Latte, and let us know where you think the perfect spot for a replacement location for our Henderson shop would be! We have some exciting possibilities in the works and we're always looking for the best ways to serve our customers.
Award-winning coffee shop will continue to serve at other locations across town.
