When Coffee Cottage suddenly closed its doors two weeks ago, students were left wondering once again if the cafe would reopen at all this time. 

With only two employees and no other staff to pick up the slack, the coffee shop must completely shut down – as it did the week of March 18 – when either is gone. An increasingly familiar sight to students has become the “Coffee Cottage Closed Today” sign on the outside of the door. 

“I never know if they’re going to be open or not until I get to the front door, which makes it difficult to want to go at all,” junior Hailey Martinovich said. 

Unreliable hours have become a deterring factor for students. What once was a popular study and snack spot has become more of a ghost town, the hustle and bustle of customers coming in and out of the cafe long gone. 

Martinovich used to frequent Coffee Cottage every Wednesday with her roommates for breakfast, but that tradition stopped after the cafe was closed in 2022, when Coffee Cottage was shut down for weeks on end without announcing a plan for reopening. 

With fewer students coming in through the doors, it has been much harder for Coffee Cottage employees Bobbi Field and Kelly Lowell to make a profit. 

“I think I’ve gone maybe once or twice this year,” said sophomore Michael O’Connor, “and I used to go regularly, I even had a punch card.” 

The reason the cafe was closed last semester was to downsize their retail and menu options. Items that did not sell or make enough money such as chips, candy bars, and other retail snacks are no longer being offered, Field said. 

The milk crates in front of the register that were once filled with options are gone. The retail options left for students are slim, with a few canned energy drinks in the cooler. 

They miss the large and lively crowds, but they still have their regulars, said Lowell, there are lots of loyal customers who love the sandwiches. 

Field and Lowell said that the downsizing had to happen for Coffee Cottage to remain in good business. 

Despite the recent menu cuts, the cafe still offers staples like iced and hot coffee, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, and the popular smoothies. 

“We were closed temporarily so that we can stay open permanently,” Field said. 

The cafe is set to be back to normal hours for the rest of the semester, and despite the current rumors circulating of its permanent closure, the plan is to keep the doors open for as long as possible. 

“We made sure to keep fan favorites, like the Castleton sandwich,” said Field. “We want to keep students coming in to see us.”