Thursday, March 06, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Unstable grounds

Cafe Espresso gets a last-minute reprieve from closure

By Andrew Kiraly

The coffee is strong, the vibe is laid-back, the salads are fresh--but the finances are screwed. That's why Cafe Espresso owner Sandy Boyd is pulling up his stakes in the Las Vegas market, effectively ending an era for one of Vegas' more interesting and storied coffeehouses where poetry, live music and art flourished, and everyone from harried UNLV profs to penniless goth kids hung out.

But the picture grew somewhat rosier last week when two Espresso employees, Gary Tognetti and Ryan Pardey, made a bid to buy the store and make some fundamental changes. Owner Boyd originally planned to close the cafe March 1; now he's agreed to keep it open a month longer to give the two new would-be owners time to regroup.

And they will need to regroup. Talk to one of the new prospective purchasers and the schemes and ideas come frothing forth like steamed milk. The two longtime employees don't want to remake the place, but they do want to liven up the brew. The development could just be Espresso's savior--or it could lead to a slow, messy death. With little more than $4,000 between them and some big plans, Tognetti and Pardey are determined to give Espresso a second chance.

"We don't want to change the flavor too much," says Tognetti. "Basically, we want to get a bigger crowd in here, and we want to get the crowd who already does come in here to spend more money while they're here. The problem with the place all along has been that it's been run like a YMCA. A lot of employees would get in the habit of giving away coffee and pastries to their friends, and our prices are way behind the market."

Tognetti and crew want to give the cafe an espresso jolt of business savvy. On the plate of proposed upgrades: a beer/wine license, a bigger food menu and a broader range of events. But the biggest upgrades have to do with intangibles--such as changing the image the place has as a sort of bohemian crash pad for would-be fringe types who spend lots of time, but little money.

"Essentially we need to shake off the stigma attached to the place," says Pardey, "and transform it without losing the essence that is Cafe Espresso. I think that people get a bad feeling when they think about Cafe Espresso at night. They get that D&D feeling." Pardey envisions a place where a diverse roster of entertainment embraces everything from jazz nights to children's theater on Saturday mornings.

But for now the would-be partners are occupied with the nuts and bolts of buying the place. The upside is that Boyd says he plans to sell them the cafe for a mere song; the downside is the cost of doing business might kill the cafe before their plans bear fruit. Boyd, who started Espresso Roma Cafe in 1988 as part of his Berkeley-based chain, says in recent years he's been losing up to $5,000 a month--an alarming shortfall, considering his proximity to UNLV and the already pricey $4,800 rent.

"It hasn't made money in quite a few years," says Boyd, who owns 25 shops. "It's a busy street that's hard to cross in the first place, and more coffee shops have opened on campus over the years. Some of my stores make a lot of money, some lose it, but over the years I've tried to be an optimist and keep them all going. It's hard to kill your babies, but [in Vegas] I feel like I've got to cut my losses." Under a tentative arrangement, Boyd would still sell his coffee to the store.

But if Boyd, a professional, can't make it, what makes Tognetti and Pardey think they can? After all, Maryland Parkway is haunted with the ghosts of independent cafes long gone, from the musty, cozy Cafe Copioh to the colorful Cafe Rainbow. The costs of upgrading equipment and the building to meet current health and building codes will be considerable, and scoring a beer/wine license from the county can take anywhere from three to five months. The two aren't fazed.

"Maybe the odds are against us," says Pardey. "But there are good things in the city that fall apart because no one stands up when it's time to stand up. We all believe in each other, and we're going to see what we can do. I really believe we can turn this place around."