Popular coffee shop and a vintage store in Annapolis to close

A beloved coffee shop and a West Street vintage store are closing in Annapolis at the end of the summer.

Bitty and Beau’s Coffee, which operates 18 cafes across 11 states, confirmed in a Tuesday morning email its plans to shutter its Dock Street location. Another local favorite, All the Rage Vintage, announced its closure on social media last week.

Bitty and Beau’s Coffee plans to close by Sept. 13, according to the company’s co-founder, Amy Wright.

Wright cited the end of the shop’s seven-year lease as the reason for the closure.

“We are incredibly proud of our employees and deeply grateful to the Annapolis community for embracing our team and our mission over the past seven years,” she said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the clothing shop is pivoting to a new studio for its vintage-loving clientele in Baltimore, said owners Erica Kagan and Sarah Taylor. The pair said they signed a lease for a spot at the Meadow Mill business center on Clipper Mill Road. Kagan likened the space to the shops that Mick Jagger’s girlfriends would have patronized in the ’70s.

“It’s the end of an era and the start of a new chapter,” they said on the shop’s Instagram account.

Kagan thanked customers for their support in another Instagram post, calling the last week a “mad dash” of getting ready for the going-out-of-business sale at the shop, which was open for five years. The store is advertising 40% off all items.

Taylor cited rising rents and issues with available parking and construction for the closure. She said she felt the city needed to better communicate plans that would obstruct access to West Street, where work to replace gas lines is underway, such as ripping up gas lines, affecting foot traffic.

Kagan added that shopping patterns also changed over the last five years. Sales are down for ’60s and ’70s pieces, which All the Rage Vintage specializes in, and more people are looking for ’90s and Y2K clothing. Kagan believes the move to Baltimore will better align their operation with the clientele most interested in their inventory.

Vintage items are getting more expensive, too, Kagan said, which means the Baltimore business will focus more on more products for high-spending clients. The co-owners plan to curate a personalized experience in the studio, fit with velvet and Moroccan influences, and only available by appointment on two Saturdays each month. The stock will be entirely clothing and accessories, including Kagan’s beloved sequin fringe pieces, as well as psychedelic prints.

Some of their products will be available at various markets, such as Bmore Flea, which Kagan and Taylor occasionally attend.

The news of Bitty & Beau’s closure roiled the coffee shop’s neighbor, the Storm Bros. Ice Cream shop. Owner Sveinn Storm said in a Facebook post that losing the Dock Street cafe “is a bitter pill for everyone to swallow.”

He praised the business for hiring staff with intellectual and developmental disabilities and highlighting “the talents and gifts they have,” he said.

Bitty’s and Beau’s Coffee chain employs over 450 employees, according to its website, which describes the business as a place where people with disabilities can find meaning and connect with the community through work.

Storm attributed the closure to hardships caused by the City Dock construction project along Dock Street, which he’s previously spoken out against alongside other businesses. Annapolis is financing a $90 million rebuild in an effort to mitigate persistent flooding in the area caused by rising seas amid climate change.

In recent months, a Dock Street gallery also said it would close by the end of the year, citing a loss of parking caused by the construction.