Had Our Philz

Wow, the coffeeshops are dropping like flies.  Tully's, Likewise Cafe, Sit and Spin, and now Philz, a budding San Francisco institution.  But visitors to the 18th and Sanchez location were greeted with this sight this weekend:

Downsizing our local chain

The signs on both sides of the building blotted out, although interestingly it was bustling as usual inside.

A little background:  This location used to house an antique-ish business that a letter-writer in the B.A.R. called "the perpetual garage sale."  We have a lot of those around here.  Anyway, after the garage sale finally ended, the location then stood empty for a while before being renovated as a coffeeshop.  At the time Samovar across the street had opened, and was thriving with its exotic teas, its stylish presentation, and its overall air of lesbian-chic, and meanwhile the new coffeeshop had the aesthetics of a freezer case at Safeway.  Needless to say it couldn't handle the competition and quickly closed.

In its place opened this monstrosity, painted like a drunk Brazilian soccer fan's face, and we guessed that it would similarly fail.  But no.  Apparently the new store moving in was a local mini-chain, Philz, and it came with a built-in fan base and was soon crowded with coffee drinkers.  According to their website, Phil is pretty hardcore about his coffee, and the store brews each cup order one-at-a-time, by hand.

So why is the shop closing?  It's hard to say.  An oblique message from Phil himself on the website offers this non-explanation:

I want extend with all of my heart a big thank you to all my friends and customers from the 18th at Sanchez street location, which is no longer a Phil’z Coffee location.  It was an extremely difficult decision to sever a less than perfect business relationship. It was definitely in the best interest of Phil’z Coffee ...

The letter then goes on to announce a new location opening in SoMa.

I popped in, and according to the people behind the counter the store is running exactly the same as before, and they are even still using beans from Philz!  They were very insistent that nothing in the shop had changed other than the name -- so insistent that it made me a little nervous.  So I guess I shouldn't say that the coffeshop had closed exactly, just that it had been severed mysteriously from its Phil.

BTW, (and this is where the grammar queen in me comes out) -- note that in Phil's letter he spells the name of his shop as "Phil'z" but elsewhere on the website (and in the signs) the store is called "Philz."  Why does the apostrophe mean nothing in America anymore?!  Grrrr.