Despite speculation over at DCist, Nick Cho says it’s not an April Fool’s joke: He’s closing Murky Coffee in Arlington and moving back to the District. He and, he says, most of his remaining staff will move over to a new spot, Wrecking Ball Coffee , at 475 H St. NW.
“We just couldn’t make the business model work in Arlington,” says the barista made quasi-famous for wanting to punch someone on his dick after he was made quasi-famous for not paying his D.C. taxes. The new shop will have a new owner, thus avoiding that whole lien problem. (DCist says it’ll be Cho’s girlfriend, Trish Rothgeb Skeie.) Cho says he will collect a salary and keep far away from the money end. “There are some things I’m good at and some things I’m not,” he says. “This frees me up to do what I’m good at.” Like run for president?
Cho’s public announcement, posted to his site, after the jump:
Dear valued customer,
It’s with great sadness that I announce that in a few weeks, murky coffee will be relocating from here in Clarendon to a new location in Washington DC.
The property here at 3211 Wilson Boulevard was sold last year, and market rent is simply more than we can afford.
In the coming months, I hope that you’ll join us in welcoming a new coffee shop here, brought by the talented folks at the renown “Liberty Tavern” just up the street. They’ll be bringing their years of experience, a full renovation of the building, and top-quality service. We are proud to call them our friends, and plan to support them in setting up their coffee program. That said, we ask that you’ll join us in welcoming and supporting them.
Our new home (at 5th & H Streets NW, two blocks east of the Chinatown Gate) will be a brand-new shop (called “Wrecking Ball Coffee”) in a new neighborhood. While we’re excited at new possibilities, leaving Clarendon isn’t going to be easy. We’ve made many friends here, and we’re very sad to leave. All of us here at murky are heartbroken about this move, so please be sensitive to our feelings during the transition.
We’ve been honored to be a place for you to visit over the last four years—especially our regular customers, but also those who we see less frequently.
Thanks for your friendship, love, and patronage. In so many ways, our customers have inspired us to work harder at providing you the best coffee experience we can, and for that, we cannot than you enough.
We hope that you’ll be sure to visit us at our upcoming location. Dates for this move are yet to be specifically determined, but renovations will begin soon, starting with the upstairs.
I welcome your questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Nick