TJ’s Coffee Shop on Second Avenue East in Downtown Owen Sound is closing its doors after 19 years of business.
Owner and operator Jamie Simkins says the shop closes at 4 PM on Friday and after that, he and his family will move onto other jobs and interests, leaving the restaurant business behind altogether.
Simkins says he opened the shop in 1997 with his father and simply adopted the name ‘TJ’s’ from the previous owner.
He says there are people who have been coming to his coffee shop every day for the past 19 years.
Lorne Rich has been one of those customers and has met with the same group of eight or nine friends every day, sometimes a couple of times a day for the past 19 years.
Rich says it will be hard to decide on a new place to meet.
TJ’s has been for sale for roughly a year and Simkins says he’s had a number of offers to buy equipment in the shop, and he’s also been asked to consider if he’d be willing to leave it as-is.
Simkins plans to continue his full-time work as a member of the ministry staff at the Hepworth Baptist Church.
With the closure, Simkins says his wife, son and two other staff will be looking for full-time work.
Simkins says he didn’t know anything about the restaurant business when he started back in 1997, but loved to cook while growing up in Hepworth.