The Molecule Effect has been at 300 S. Logan St. since March 2020. (Courtesy Montana Rae/Henry Group Real Estate)
Mark Landman and Megyn Rodgers are splitting off from Wash Park.
The Molecule Effect location at 300 S. Logan St. will close by the end of August – when its lease expires. The duo plan to pour all their efforts into their other location at 2215 S. Broadway.
“We decided that with the rising costs of everything, with the economic climate, that this was an opportunity for us to scale back and really refocus on our other location. We’re not closing the business, we’re just not renewing the lease at that location,” Rodgers said.
The 1,700-square-foot cafe space was listed two weeks ago for lease by Montana Rae of Henry Group Real Estate for $40 per square foot per year, with an additional $12 a foot in expenses.
That translates to about $7,500 in rent per month.
“The rates are high in town right now, but it’s kind of a small space, and there’s a pretty big basement that’s not included in the lease rate, so I hope it balances out for someone,” Rae said.
Landman and Rodgers said their business in Wash Park has been profitable, but not with the same margins when they opened the first location on Santa Fe Drive 11 years ago.
“It’s very hard for us to feel like we can pass on an increase in a cup of coffee to a customer,” Landman said. “A cup of coffee is foundational to someone’s day and to see it go up to $5, $6, $7 bucks, it’s almost like a change in our culture.”
The business owners will try and find a way to move its staff of six over to their other location at 2215 S. Broadway.
“At the Broadway location we have plans to expand the patio, and we have such a large parking lot there that we’re figuring out how to do weekend farmers markets or music showcases,” Landman said.
In the meantime, the two will explore where to add more Molecule Effect locations. Just don’t expect it to come in Denver. Rising labor costs have made it much more difficult to run a successful small business in town, they said.
It also didn’t help that the cafe on Logan Street opened for just six days before the pandemic shut down the state. Nothing has been normal since then for the coffee shop proprietors.
“What you could rely on for your business for your growth from 2014 to 2020 is now not the same consistency as what it used to be,” Rodgers said.
“I would have thought in 2025, the economics would have been a little more stable than where they are.”
The Molecule Effect has been at 300 S. Logan St. since March 2020. (Courtesy Montana Rae/Henry Group Real Estate)
Mark Landman and Megyn Rodgers are splitting off from Wash Park.
The Molecule Effect location at 300 S. Logan St. will close by the end of August – when its lease expires. The duo plan to pour all their efforts into their other location at 2215 S. Broadway.
“We decided that with the rising costs of everything, with the economic climate, that this was an opportunity for us to scale back and really refocus on our other location. We’re not closing the business, we’re just not renewing the lease at that location,” Rodgers said.
The 1,700-square-foot cafe space was listed two weeks ago for lease by Montana Rae of Henry Group Real Estate for $40 per square foot per year, with an additional $12 a foot in expenses.
That translates to about $7,500 in rent per month.
“The rates are high in town right now, but it’s kind of a small space, and there’s a pretty big basement that’s not included in the lease rate, so I hope it balances out for someone,” Rae said.
Landman and Rodgers said their business in Wash Park has been profitable, but not with the same margins when they opened the first location on Santa Fe Drive 11 years ago.
“It’s very hard for us to feel like we can pass on an increase in a cup of coffee to a customer,” Landman said. “A cup of coffee is foundational to someone’s day and to see it go up to $5, $6, $7 bucks, it’s almost like a change in our culture.”
The business owners will try and find a way to move its staff of six over to their other location at 2215 S. Broadway.
“At the Broadway location we have plans to expand the patio, and we have such a large parking lot there that we’re figuring out how to do weekend farmers markets or music showcases,” Landman said.
In the meantime, the two will explore where to add more Molecule Effect locations. Just don’t expect it to come in Denver. Rising labor costs have made it much more difficult to run a successful small business in town, they said.
It also didn’t help that the cafe on Logan Street opened for just six days before the pandemic shut down the state. Nothing has been normal since then for the coffee shop proprietors.
“What you could rely on for your business for your growth from 2014 to 2020 is now not the same consistency as what it used to be,” Rodgers said.
“I would have thought in 2025, the economics would have been a little more stable than where they are.”
