On Tuesday, January 30th, a U-Haul truck was being loaded with some furniture and equipment from Esperanza. A post on social media from the owner stated, “After 2 beautiful years, we have closed our beloved Woodstock café.”

“Esperanza Trading Company Café”, a coffee shop at 4429 S.E. Woodstock Boulevard, abruptly announced on Saturday, January 27th, that it was permanently closing. The next day, the owner and staff opened their doors one last time for loyal customers. The goodbye for this popular Mexican-American owned café drew many who said that they had come to love its authenticity and community orientation.

One index of authenticity was the Esperanza roasting room, which used coffee beans from Reforma Coffee Roasters, sourced from different growing regions in Mexico. The roasting room was originally set up in 2020 by previous shop owner Brandon Smyth, who collaborated with Kevin Youkilis – two-time World Series Champion with the Boston Red Sox – the owner of Reforma Coffee Roasters.

A December 2020 BEE article described Smyth as an award-winning coffee specialist. He ran his Loma Café for two years, and rented from Youkilis. In 2022 Smyth gave up the shop, and Angel Medina opened Esperanza Trading Company Café there.

Medina renovated the space, opening up the rear storage room to make a large community room, with chairs and tables for computers. Students – especially nearby Reed College students – found this room a welcoming space for study, and community members used it to gather for coffee, socializing, and reading. In addition, a large window-paneled garage door at the front allowed people to sit inside while benefiting from outdoor fresh air. The small outdoor wooden patio provided another place to sit.

For two years Medina owned the shop as part of his República & Co. hospitality group, which includes acclaimed Republica Restaurant and Perlita Café in Portland. Medina says his business goal has always been to “help people understand Mexican culture, with a focus on culture and community.”

On Monday January 29th, Esperanza employees were packing a U-Haul rental truck in front of the café, preparing to move out. The outside patio space was being removed. Alessandra Peraza-Aguillon, a barista at Esperanza, lamented, “It is not just losing our jobs, but losing our community space.”

On the same day, property owner Deborah Beckwith-Peterson contacted FOX-TV-12 News and disputed Esperanza’s claim that she was forcing the business out. She said that Esperanza was not meeting its financial agreement, and had various code violations. (The main code violation, apparently, was the lack of a permit for the partition separating the café from the back room.)

On Tuesday, January 30th, THE BEE went to the café to interview the owner and some staff members. There, Medina told us, “We moved into a tough position two years ago. We had a sub-lease. We have tried for two months to negotiate with the property owner [because the lease is up at the end of January], but they want to increase the cost to us by $1,000 a month.” According to trusted sources, that increase is due to escalating utility costs, CAM fees (Common Area Maintenance), late fees, and a code violation.) Medina feared that those costs would continue to increase.

He added that Peterson’s claim that they were a “non-legal sub-lessee” is not true, because Esperanza was not paying rent to Youkilis; but, until two months ago when they started negotiations, he and his business partner Olivia Bartruff had been sending their payment checks to Beckwith-Peterson LLC.

Ms. Bartruff added her opinion: “She’s [Beckwith-Peterson] decided her property is worth a certain amount and we can’t [afford to] pay it. I believe in restaurants and coffee shops as [social] anchors of neighborhoods, and we are hopeful about finding a [new] space.”

As this writer was talking with a barista on January 30th, two men suddenly entered and moved through the café with Medina and Bartruff, discussing what furniture and equipment they would like to purchase from Medina, and what Medina would put into storage.

When THE BEE had the chance, a few minutes later, to meet these two men, one of them – Brody Day – said he is the owner of Steeplejack Brewing, and that he and Dustin Harder (not present) would be opening “Harder Day Coffee Company” in this space. The second man present was identified as a realtor.

A week later at the Woodstock Neighborhood Association meeting, an attendee surmised that Peterson wanted Esperanza out so she could lease at a higher rate to a different party who could afford the increase. The WNA has seen this happening elsewhere in Inner Southeast Portland, and the neighborhood association has expressed concern that this trend may cause rents to continue to soar in the community.

On February 10th, Brody Day emailed THE BEE to say they had just finalized the lease with Peterson, and would be opening the new coffee shop in the near future.

Some in the community say they believe the Esperanza Café’s departure will mean a loss of cultural diversity and community for the Woodstock neighborhood. However, as this BEE reporter left the shop, Medina said encouragingly: “Don’t worry. We’re going to work something out. And we’re going to see how many of our employees we can keep.”

In the meantime, a “GoFundMe” has been set up to help employees at Esperanza who are now, at least temporarily, without a job. To make a donation go online to – https://www.gofundme.com – and search for “Help Support Woodstock Coffee Shop Staff.”