The Exponent


04-12-2005	Previous edition: 04-11-2005

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Unexpected coffeehouse closure leaves students, employees puzzled

By Kaitlin Vanderpool
City Editor

Purdue students were surprised to learn Village Coffeehouse abruptly closed over the weekend.

So was former Coffeehouse employee Lindsay Kirleis.

"We had no idea," she said. "None of the managers knew or anything."

She said the owner, who lives in Kansas, showed up Friday morning with a locksmith, kicked all the customers out and locked the doors.

"He just showed up and said he was tired of dealing with the business," Kirleis said.

No employees have been able to contact the owner of Village Coffeehouse to question the circumstances.

Kirleis said the long distance phone service has been disconnected.

Naomi Rippy, former manager of Village Coffeehouse, said she was just as surprised as students were to learn of the closing.

"Neither the store employees nor the management were given any notice that this would occur," she said.

She also apologizes to those customers who were asked to leave during the abrupt closing.

Sarah Surducan, a senior in the School of Industrial Engineering, was one of those customers asked to leave.

Surducan visited Village Coffeehouse every Friday morning to meet with friends.

She said around 10:30 a.m., a man she presumed to be the owner came up and told her once she finished her drink, she would have to leave.

When she questioned the owner, he said he thought he had the place sold or leased, but the buyer backed out.

While Surducan spoke to him, she said she saw a locksmith taking the locks off the doors.

When she walked back by the Coffeehouse at 3:30 p.m., the "For Lease" sign was in the window.

"It was a sad day," she said.

Emma Preuschl, a sophomore in the College of Consumer and Family Sciences, agrees with Surducan, saying she is disappointed because Village Coffeehouse was where she went to study without being stressed out.

Preuschl also thinks the Coffeehouse’s closure won’t just affect students who enjoyed the coffee and atmosphere.

"It’s going to be really detrimental to some of the surrounding businesses because I know a lot of people would go there to study and to meet," she said.

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Unexpected coffeehouse closure leaves students, employees puzzled

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City editor: Kaitlin Vanderpool

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