The building where Morning Ritual coffee shop operates on the west side of Grand Rapids is set to be purchased by another coffee shop operator.
The two-story building at 637 Stocking Ave. NW was recently listed for sale for $250,000. The property owner, Max Friar, has accepted a purchase agreement from an undisclosed coffee shop operator, he told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
For Friar, an Ada resident and managing partner of Grand Rapids-based M&A advisory firm Calder Capital LLC, the building sale comes at the right time.
“I thought I could lease it to someone, but I just don’t really have the time or resources to manage it anymore,” Friar said. “It just started to feel like it didn’t make sense, so the time is right.”
The 1,585-square-foot building is listed by DAR Commercial Real Estate.
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The decision to sell the building coincides with Morning Ritual nearing the end of its five-year lease in mid-August. The coffee shop is relocating this year to a 3,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of the Warner Building downtown at the corner of Ionia Avenue and Lyon Street, Crain’s previously reported.
Friar did not disclose which coffee operator is set to buy the building, but said he likes the idea of the west side building remaining a coffee shop.
“It will be a great location for this new buyer, I know they are excited for it,” Friar said.
This will be the third consecutive time a coffee shop has opened in the space.
Doing business as 637 Stocking LLC, Friar purchased the building for $161,275 in January 2017. Friar and his wife, Melissa Somero, operated Corridor Coffee at the building until they sold the business in 2020 to Alyx Vass, who later rebranded the store to Morning Ritual.
During the time Friar and Somero ran Corridor Coffee, they added restrooms to the top floor of the building and added more seating for the coffee shop seating upstairs.
The property has hosted a wide range of uses dating back to the 1800s, Friar said. Originally a dress making supply shop was located at the building, which eventually turned into a tailor shop. The building was abandoned for a time, and an antique thrift store was the last business in the space before Friar purchased it in 2017, he said.
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