Mystic Coffee Roaster Closing Medford Café

MEDFORD, MA — A local coffee roastery will close its café this month as it struggles to generate business during the pandemic. Mystic Coffee Roaster will remain in business as a wholesaler, but the hit to its café has been "insurmountable," owner Sharon Hepburn said.

"All restaurants are suffering, and for us, the decrease in foot traffic and sales has been unsurmountable," Hepburn wrote on the business's website. "I realize the situation is temporary and a vaccine is in sight but realistically, it’s not going to get rolled out in time to make much of a difference for 2021. I’ve tried to offset the decrease is sales by cost-cutting measures as much as I possibly can, but at this point, the café just isn’t sustainable under these conditions."

Hepburn said she will continue serving Mystic Coffee's wholesale, contract and mail order customers and explore other business avenues. The roastery will be open a few days a week for retail, but the long term plan is to find local businesses to sell and serve Mystic Coffee, Hepburn said.

"The outlook for the roasting business is much more positive than the retail café, and I am very optimistic about the company's future as a roastery," Hepburn wrote.

Mystic Coffee Roaster has been in business for more than a decade on Riverside Avenue. The café will shut down by Dec. 24.