Planet Bean’s downtown coffee shop has closed during the weekdays for the foreseeable future due to increased business costs and fewer customers.
On June 13, Planet Bean announced the reduced operating days for the coffee shop at 2 Wyndham St. via Instagram.
“The costs of doing business month-to-month since the COVID-19 pandemic have increased exponentially, while the number of people coming in to our Wyndham St. cafe has only dwindled due to many factors outside of our control,” read the post.
It stated it has become “necessary” to close during the weekdays and only open Saturdays and Sundays.
“It’s not a decision we took lightly but it’s something that we’ve constantly been evaluating our cafes since the beginning of COVID,” said Andrew Loveland, director of coffee at Planet Bean.
Changes made were reduction in hours and consolidated staff, “which is something we never want to do,” he said. “We’re here because we love coffee and fairtrade and we want people to be employed.”
Planet Bean coffee beans are fairtrade, meaning the beans are sourced from growers who have safe working conditions, environmental protection and a sustainable source of income.
There have been less customers during the week. “Office workers just haven’t returned in the numbers that we saw pre-COVID and so it wasn’t feasible to continue running during the week,” said Loveland.
Planet Bean downtown has customers come through the door during the weekend and this is why the cafe is open Saturdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Customers have expressed disappointment since the reduction. Loveland is thankful for the support from customers who continue to buy Planet Bean coffee at its other locations.
The office spaces above Planet Bean “used to be full of office workers,” Loveland said. There were rushes at the coffee bar during the day when people took breaks from work. He does think downtown will eventually be busy again.
“The industry itself needs to kind of adapt and weather this change that's happened and kind of see where we come out in the end,” said Loveland.
The goal is for the coffee bar to open again during the weekdays. “We're currently working with some other local businesses about some opportunities to maybe share the space,” he said.
Planet Bean has been around since 1997. It roasts its own coffee and has coffee bars at the University of Guelph, Grange Road, Gordon Street and Wyndham Street.
The location at 259 Grange Rd. is open everyday. Planet Bean’s coffee beans can still be purchased online and through businesses across Guelph, and several other cities.
“We're forever grateful. And we hope to get to a point where we can have more people working for us again, we can have more money in that local economy because I think that's really important right now,“ said Loveland.
