Grinds down
No perks left at Park Slope coffee house
FREELOADERS only have themselves to blame for the closure of The Tea Lounge, the popular Park Slope coffee shop’s owner said Thursday.
Jonathan Spiel, 45, is closing the Brooklyn java joint Monday after 14 years due to dwindling business caused by customers who plug away on laptops for hours without ordering anything more than a measly cup of joe.
“People take advantage of the space,” Spiel said. “I’m running a business, not a community center.”
The spacious Union St. sprawl’s menu includes an array of sandwiches and salads ranging from $6 to $8.50. But moochers were more interested in the free Wi-Fi and comfy couches.
“We can’t force people to spend money,” Spiel said. “You would think people would be more considerate and understand it’s a business and not someone’s office.”
The lounge has long been a favorite gathering spot for neighborhood scribes and many mommy groups seeking a base away from their cloistered apartments.
“I’ve definitely written pieces of all my books there,” said David Shenk, 48, author of “The Genius in All of Us” and five other tomes.
The spot with creaky wooden chairs and uneven, ratty loveseats was an “office away from home,” customer Susan Fox wrote on a Park Slope online parent forum. Its closure marked an “end of an era,” she said. Spiel, who moved from Brooklyn to Queens in 2013 to cut costs, said there was nothing that could be done to keep the coffee flowing.
He considered changing his laissez-faire business model by charging for wireless service, but never went through with it due to fears it would scare off customers.
“Maybe I regret not having done that,” he said. “But I don’t know how well that would have gone over in the neighborhood.”
Business dwindled even without the ban. The overall number of customers each day has dropped from roughly 400 to 300 over the past three years, Spiel said.
In September, the lounge was slammed by a blog after a regular customer complained that the store’s manager got upset she asked for a plastic spoon to eat a yogurt purchased at another location.
“For some reason, they stopped coming,” said Spiel, adding that live music at night and trivia events did little to lure customers and generate business.
Big Manhattan spenders, as well as rising rent and food costs, also played a role in the lounge’s demise, he added, declining to detail exact expenses.