Gloria Jeans in the Ross Park Mall closed. They had a huge sale - everything had to go. Whatever was left in the store as of this morning was put on a truck and removed.
Yesterday Johnny and Rich went up there to see what we could get on the cheap. We loaded up on some condiments and serving utensils for a few bucks and invested a whopping $200 on GJ's Super Jolly grinder (retails for around $680 new).
We've ordered a new set of burrs and have given its innards a couple of good cleanings to get rid of the funk from some of those GJ flavored coffees. It'll still need additional reconditioning before going into service, but it's likely you'll see it behind the bar before the end of February.
John thought he was going to walk out with an Astoria two group espresso machine for his basement. But there was a typo on the price list emailed to us that stated a much lower price than what they were ultimately willing to settle for.
Good thing, since we think John would've been scrubbing rust off the thing through the weekend. Or longer. It was in fairly rough shape.
A "Steamers" cafe is opening in GJ's spot opposite the food court.
Grr. I only have one used $200 SJ...although mine isn't gold (thankfully). A second SJ would necessitate throwing out the microwave, but those are the sacrifices you have to make sometimes! Also, a shame about the astoria as I am sure you know I would LOVE to spend hours rehabilitating an abused commercial two group. Well, that and running a 220V line to the machine.
Posted by: Sean | January 31, 2008 at 10:31 PM
The funny thing was John and I both thought the Astoria was a no-brainer at $200, but at $300 it was a rip-off.
They wanted $500, but when John said no, they came down pretty fast... just not far enough.
That'll give you an idea of the scope of the project in refurbishing the thing.
Posted by: Rich | February 01, 2008 at 02:47 PM