Another long-time Tucson business bites the dust, as Safehouse on Speedway closes after fifteen years in business:
This article appears in Aug 9-15, 2012.
Safehouse Espresso Bar Closes
Comments are closed.
Eh. I used to hang out there years ago, frankly I’m surprised it took this long.
I met my husband there 4 years ago. No more anniversary coffee dates. Sad!
Never let someone’s story get in the way of your little political mouthings, @roguewire. Just remember it doesn’t work if you don’t stamp your little feet.
Well, it’s the Obama economy in general. No one has any money to spend. Employers are scared to hire anyone. It’s not politics. It’s just the reality of the country right now. ObamaCare IS a huge burden to businesses. Papa Johns pizza just announced that they’re increasing the price of pizza because of ObamaCare. I knew a Catalina business owner personally who closed up her doors because of ObamaCare. A lot of Obama supporters just don’t know what’s in it and why it’s so poisonous to businesses.
Take the time to read ObamaCare and then think about what it would take to start or maintain a business. ObamaCare is definitely taking money out of people’s pockets because they don’t have jobs. The U6 unemployment number (the real unemployment level) is over 14%. When people don’t have jobs, they cut out non-essential expenses like coffee.
Businesses with happy employees and prideful owners like Safehouse don’t go out of business for reasons other than that they can’t afford to keep the doors open. It’s not rocket science why they closed. It’s not bad luck or voodoo. It’s the Obama economy. It’s amazing that people don’t see that Obama is impacting businesses like this all over the country.
@mikejohnson. Stop wasting your valuable time trying to show why lots of Americans don’t like barry. You have to understand that on this website and many, many, many like it, it is all the fault of Republicans, tea party members, conservatives and in short, anyone not a liberal democrat. Oh sure, a few will make a cursory mention of Congress and the gridlock evident there, but it always will come back to the democrats’ usual suspects. Now that is reality. Sorry bro.
Sorry to hear about the Safehouse. It’s obvious by some of the comments that Corporate America is conditioning you well. I hope you don’t expect anything resembling gratitude or loyalty from them. (They aren’t people, and therefore, are incapable of such things).
Your only value as a human being, is in what you produce for them, and what you consume from them. Otherwise, you are expendable.
If you wake up one morning without your freedom, it won’t be because it was taken from you. It will be because you sold it for a pittance. And if that’s the case, its loss will be no more than you deserve.
Safehouse first opened mere months before I moved to Tucson with some friends at the very end of ’97; it was one of the first places my ‘Sconnie homeslice Randy (who’d moved here about a year prior) introduced us to, as we crashed at his tiny apartment whilst looking for our first pad here. He and a development colleague later set up the first wifi network at Safehouse during the dot.com boom, one of the first public hotspots in town, not least out of “enlightened self interest” because they wanted to do work from there with a steady flow of that delicious, hi-test diesel-strength coffee and ‘spro. Speaking of which, to this day I have never had a better cup of coffee anywhere at any price.
Most of the people I now know in Tucson are directly or indirectly traceable to some Safehouse connection; either I met them there, or met them through someone I met there, or first met them elsewhere but bonded with them there. Safehouse is an integral part of my entire 15-year Tucson experience; to me, Safehouse is Tucson, and Tucson is Safehouse. To those who knew and loved it, Safehouse was more than a mere coffeeshop or hangout; it was a community, a support group, a social nexus, an island of misfit toys, a second home — heck, a first home for some. This town has lost a big chunk out of its soul.
No A/C in AZ means fewer patrons hanging around for hours. Was cool place in ’04. Also didn’t help when the manager of an establishment is straight up rude to loyal customers.
This is not caused by the economy…the Safehouse HAS many loyal regulars (the same ones) that come day in and day out who ALL spent money there EVERY DAY! Only the owners and the property owner knows the REAL story but if you ask me, open your eyes and take a look around, another LOCAL business bites the dust…coincidence? NO it’s because corporate America is turning us all over and sticking it in where we always state it’s exit only…it’s sad and it sucks and the only thing that can stop it is US! Good luck finding another place as awesome and eclectic as the Safehouse!! RIP you will be sorely missed by a lot of people! 🙁
My husband and I had our first date at the Safehouse. It was always our little atmospheric getaway when we needed an out. On our wedding night, after the reception, we stopped at the Safehouse with me still in my wedding dress and him in his tux. It was a total blast (as were all of my times there). It saddens me greatly that we will not be able to celebrate our first -or any- anniversary there. A huge loss to Tucson culture.
I don’t know the final straw that brought Safehouse & Roaster X down in 2012, but I can assure you it was due to the owner hiding his head in the sand running it into the ground. Rumors that the money was going up his nose and not showing up to the roaster/office til 3pm didn’t help. It was a sinking ship in 2010 when I was involved. Too much Party Cool Guy and aging made for a self imploding “Absentee Owner”