Christmas is particularly merry this year for Clarke Cadzow, owner of Highland Coffees, which has long been located on West Chimes Street just outside LSU’s North Gates. In late September, Cadzow announced that after 25 years in business he would have to shut down his coffee shop on Christmas Eve because he couldn’t come to terms on a new lease agreement with landlord Hank Saurage.
But after fans of the beloved coffee shop launched a social media campaign to keep the shop open, Saurage reopened lease talks with Cadzow, and in November the two sides announced they had reached an agreement on a new long-term lease.
“It’s a good Christmas compared to what it could have been,” Cadzow says. “The outpouring of support from the community was just amazing and meant so much to me.”
Cadzow won’t discuss the terms of the new lease except to say “it’s an acceptable deal that is obviously something I can live with.” He’s also not prepared to say what changes, if any, it might mean for the coffee shop. He doesn’t want to raise prices nor does he want to change the existing business model. But making a living as an independent coffee shop in a location with limited parking and no drive-thru facility is tough.
“When you’re in an environment that’s not easy you always have to be thinking about how to increase revenues or decrease expenses,” he says. “If there is a great idea that some coffee shop is utilizing to make the numbers work out really well, I’m looking for it.”
After the holidays, Cadzow says, he will explore various options that could make the shop more profitable. For now, though, he’s just happy the doors are open and that today is just another day in business. —Stephanie Riegel
