The coffee is brewing again at True Brew Barista, the cafe and nightclub in Concord’s Bicentennial Square that closed this summer due to an expected change in ownership.
And while the public knew that Rob Zinser Jr., and his wife, Stephanie, were trying to sell, they never figured the Zinsers would circle back like boomerangs and return as True Brew’s owners.
They have, though. Their grand re-opening, for takeout coffee only, was Thursday. They cited several factors for their return, including local loyalty, Rob’s passion for the business he built with his own two hands, and the dark business forecast that lays ahead during the pandemic.
Rob also had said he would do his best to sell to a like-minded owner, keeping True Brew’s unique personality that allowed customers to enjoy their weekday mornings and weekend nights at the same place.
“It just seemed like there were a lot of people who were upset we were leaving and we wanted to continue it,” Rob said by phone from True Brew Thursday. “We’re just trying to find the right person, and there are still some people who are interested.”
Added Stephanie, “It took a month of soul searching. We had this outpouring from the community that we certainly were not prepared for. We decided it wasn’t the right time for us or the community to call it quits.”
The choice to sell and then pull the business off the market had a greater impact on Rob, Stephanie said. Rob built the business 12 years ago and had served as its hands-on boss ever since.
“I favored (selling) it more than Rob because I still have a full-time job,” said Stephanie, a respiratory therapist at Concord Hospital. “It was harder on him than I expected it would be. This was his baby. I helped him out a lot when I could, but this was his thing, and then when you get away from it, you realize how much you love it.”
Rob Zinser launched the business, ran the business and, at various times over the last 12 years, seemed to live at the business.
He created a still-novel idea in 2008, when he opened a coffee delivery service from his home, near downtown Concord. If you called and lived within a five-mile radius, one of the owners would drive the coffee to you.
They had a booth on Main Street, during Market Days. They listened as their fan base wondered, aloud, where the couple’s shop was.
Inspired, Rob, a former mechanic, signed a lease, after just one year working from home, to operate out of the current building in 2009. He did a lot of the renovating. He expanded to next door, home of that nightlife that has evolved into a starting point for a big group of people, many of whom met at True Brew for the first time.
“It was Rob’s idea,” Stephanie told the Monitor earlier this summer. “He does well. Within a couple of months, we developed a good clientele downtown.”
At the time Stephanie gave that interview, seven weeks ago, she and Rob had resisted any nostalgic feelings, confident that they would retire to their 40-foot sailboat, docked on Lake Winnipesaukee, and live their summers without the pressure of owning a business an hour away.
Stephanie had said the coronavirus was not a factor in the couple’s decision to sell, which would have allowed Rob to retire. But soon after True Brew closed in June and the business climate remained unstable, it quickly became apparent that this simply wasn’t a good time to leave.
The couple said offers had been made, but the deals remained in peril through all discussions because COVID-19 had left the business community shaky and unclear.
“We had lots of people who wanted to buy it,” Stephanie said. “But with things going the way they were, they were not ready to do things right now. They said they were scared and were not ready right now, and that is understandable.”
Stephanie said changes, for now, will be made, and she and Rob are still working out the details. She said True Brew might be open Wednesdays through Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. She’s also thinking about reducing hours by opening at 10 a.m.
Much of the staff was seasonal, working summers only, and will not return. In fact, Stephanie said the operation will take baby steps before she and Rob can even begin to think about offering what they did in the old days.
“We’re trying to keep it simple and save some money,” Stephanie said. “We could have two part-timers coming back, but we’re not sure when.”
One thing Stephanie and Rob are sure of is that they’ll do their best to sell True Brew to someone who can appreciate what it’s meant to the city, namely a breezy meeting place that, minus the coronavirus, can start your week Monday morning with coffee and end it Friday night with music and dancing.
“We have not found the right person and we could not close it up if no one is ready,” Rob said. “We’re still looking to sell and retire. The timing just wasn’t right, and we needed to find the right person to continue this legacy.”