The 25 year old Coffee Time at Coxwell and Gerrard has closed

Toronto has lost yet another staple Coffee Time. 

Though the dying coffee chain has been singing its swan song for what feels like forever, regulars of the 25-year-old location at Coxwell and Gerrard are lamenting its closing this past Wednesday. 

While not quite as famous as the now-closed store at Dupont and Lansdowne, this corner spot in the heart of Little India was actually open for much longer and held some significance to local Coxwellians. 

It was even the subject of a documentary made four years ago by film company Made By Other People as part of a series on Gerrard Street East.

According to a Facebook post from the film's director, Kire Paputts, the franchise's lease had ended and the rent had gone up by 40 per cent.

"I'd never seen the place so busy as the regulars said their goodbyes," wrote Paputts, who stopped by the store on its last day. 

"Even non-regulars were surprised at the news of it closing. Much of the conversation revolved around where people were going to be able to get a cheap cup of coffee in the community."

To the folks who sit all day in the Coffee Time at Coxwell and Gerrard: I get it. I'm one of you. Biding my time. Taking a long look.

— Greg Kearney (@GregKearney2) August 4, 2015

Though Toronto's love-hate relationship with the Scarborough-based coffee chain will likely be its legacy, the fact remains that Coffee Time is one of the few affordable coffee houses where people can sit for hours on end with a $2 brew.

For now, its unclear what the will become of the corner property (or the people who often frequented it) now that its's closed.

Will a makeshift coffee shop take its place to hold over our need for caffeine? Or will it be one of the chosen few to transform into a cannabis dispensary?

Whatever it becomes, we all know a Coffee Time closure is the Toronto harbinger of gentrification. Expensive coffee soon come.