NORTHAMPTON — SIP Cafe and Coffee Bar on Crafts Avenue will close for business Saturday.
But the business owner said Tuesday the closing is only temporary.
“We’d like to find somebody else who’d like to run a similar business in the space,” said Michele Curry, who opened the business with her husband, Eugene Ferrer, in 2011.
Curry said Kim and Pete Allen took over management of the cafe in 2013 with the intention of buying. Curry said that arrangement suddenly fell through two weeks ago.
“We’d been working with them for a long time,” said Curry. “For us this is very unexpected and unfortunate.”
Curry and Ferrer are former Northampton residents who now live in New York City. Curry said they do not plan to resume managing the cafe.
Kim Allen, who operates the popular coffee and lunch spot with her husband, Pete Allen, said Tuesday that they are stepping away from the cafe to find another opportunity that works better for their family.
Allen declined to specify why she and her husband decided to move on from SIP, though according to MassLive she said Monday that rising costs and limited space did not add up to enough revenue to support their family.
The cafe offers coffee, tea, sandwiches and baked goods. It also hosted after-hours dinners on the second Friday of every month.
Curry rebutted any claims that the business is struggling.
“It’s a hard business to run but that doesn’t mean the cafe isn’t strong for what it is,” said Curry. “I just don’t want it to come across that the business isn’t successful, because the business is successful, and we certainly have the records to show to someone who is interested.”
The building at 6-8 Crafts Ave. is owned by Trident Partners Inc., which lists Eric Suher of Holyoke and Richard M. Madowitz of Amherst as directors.
Madowitz said Tuesday that he and Suher are sad to see the Allens go.
“We are actively looking for a replacement tenant for SIP and we’ll sorely miss their wonderful operation,” he said Tuesday. “We wish Kim and Pete the very best — they’re high quality people.”
The Allens plan to hold an “open house” Saturday afternoon to celebrate their last day operating the cafe, which closes at 6 p.m.
As the cafe buzzed with activity Tuesday afternoon, Allen said her favorite part of her three years at SIP was the interactions with people.
“The staff, customers – being able to sit here and talk to people,” she said. “Just being part of what’s going on.”
Curry said she would like to see the artisan cafe she conceptualized continue to be a downtown destination.
“It’s a lovely space and people love to work there,” said Curry. “We’d like to see that continue.”
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com. Amanda Drane can be reached at adrane@gazettenet.com.