San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Philz Coffee moves its headquarters from S.F. to Oakland
Philz Coffee, the popular chain founded in San Francisco in 2003, has moved its corporate headquarters out of the city.
Its base is now at its roastery in Oakland. The reason is a familiar one: Like many companies, most of Philz’s employees are now fully remote and it no longer needs its Dogpatch offices. A retail location in the same building at 1258 Minnesota St. has also closed.
“Dogpatch has been our home for many years, housing our corporate offices and a retail location. However, with nearly all our corporate team fully remote, the existing lease no longer aligned with our needs as a company,” said CEO Mahesh Sadarangani in a statement.
Philz’s original location in the Mission also closed last year when its lease expired. The company still has 11 San Francisco locations and about two dozen elsewhere in the Bay Area.
“We are offering all eligible retail team members positions at other nearby Philz locations, and we look forward to continuing to be a part of the community and having a strong presence in the Bay Area,” Sadarangani said.
The San Francisco Examiner first reported the closure.
Philz opened the Dogpatch facility, which is on the ground floor of the Millwheel North condo complex, in 2015.
A number of coffee shops have closed during the pandemic, with eight downtown San Francisco Starbucks shuttering last year.
San Francisco’s office vacancy rate rose to almost 36%, another record high, according to real estate brokerage CBRE. Despite some growth by artificial intelligence companies, many tenants continue to close offices or list them for sublease, causing building values to plummet.