Future is uncertain for one of Toronto's longest-running cafes
A Toronto cafe and coffee company is struggling to relocate after their space has had to temporarily close due to the building it's in undergoing renovations.
The building at 2 Matilda St. was sold recently, which caused the venue within it Jam Factory to close, and making the future uncertain for coffee purveyors Merchants of Green. The building also housed their coffee shop component called Restoration Cafe.
According to Merchants of Green communications director Meagan Thibeault, the building is now undergoing renovations that will take at least a year and that the cafe component of the business has been temporarily closed until further notice since Nov. 13.
Merchants of Green was hoping to move their coffee shop operation into the former Cannonball spot nearby, but has found themselves in a holding pattern struggling to secure the space. They're also uncertain if the Cannonball building is also now being sold.
"We are waiting to hear back from the owner of Cannonball who agreed to lease us their space but have been MIA for weeks now," Thibeault tells blogTO.
"This means that we may have our new location next week, but at the same time it may not be until into next year."
For now, Merchants of Green has been operating as an online business, and also appears at the St. Lawrence Market on Saturdays.
"We may, and will try to, move back into the 2 Matilda St. building after renovations," says Thibeault.
As of Mar. 6, 2022, Thibeault provided blogTO with this update: "There were plans to relocate Restoration Cafe to the former Cannonball Cafe location on Queen St. However, it did not work out in the end, so we will be notifying our customers when we have located a suitable alternative space."
Herman Wong
