Last week, patrons of the Renaissance Coffee cafe in the Cornerstone building were greeted by a notice informing of the first Renaissance location’s closure as of June 27, after 10 years of service.
It was customer appreciation day the day before closing. The cafe served free coffee the morning of Friday, June 26.
Renaissance Coffee’s other locations are alive and well, but upon the expiry of the lease, owner Parminder Parhar has plans to expand into new avenues, taking over the Simon C’s convenience store and moving the Cornerstone Subway into a new location down the block.
The Cornerstone Renaissance location was a draw for multiple larger coffee corporations, but it was SFU Dining Services that secured the lease. They will provide the space for a new fair trade Starbucks to open this fall.
Executive Director for Ancillary Services Mark McLaughlin explained that if any other company were to lease the space, there would be no guarantee that they would adhere to SFU’s fair trade philosophy.
SFU’s current Starbucks in West Mall Centre was the first location in North America to offer a fair trade option, but the effort has since expanded to Starbucks on campuses across Canada. The campus location used to ask customers whether or not they’d like the fair trade coffee, but since May 1, all coffee served is fair trade.
“Fair trade is not about the coffee, it’s about improving the lives of the farmers,” said McLaughlin. He explained that the ethical values of the movement fit very well into SFU’s mandate to engage the world.
Remodelling work for the new Starbucks is slated to begin Monday, June 29, and is expected to open this September. Like the other location, this store will have similar student-friendly features, such as ample power sources, free wifi, and large community tables to spread out study materials.
McLaughlin added, “We’re really hoping to create a lot of community, because that [area is] such a key component of UniverCity.”
Despite the closing of this Renaissance location, Parhar will play a significant role in the future of food services at SFU. He is already overseeing the MacKenzie Cafe Subway, the new Pizza Hut, Jugo Juice in the AQ, as well as Simon C’s, which will see improvements through gradual renovations in the months to come.
“Parminder is a very valuable member of the SFU community,” said McLaughlin. “He’ll be coming in with some new ideas and some new investments and you’ll see some significant change in there.”
SFU Community Trust president and CEO Gordon Harris echoed McLaughlin’s sentiments: “Parminder asked us if he could open a Subway a number of years ago, and we said yes because we wanted to support a local business owner.”
“He saw an opportunity to do better, provide better service, and a more consistent product by switching from his own brand to a more recognized brand,” said Harris.
Much of the Cornerstone Renaissance staff will be transferred over to Simon C’s. Additionally, the Subway under Parhar’s leadership — which used to occupy the same space as Renaissance in Cornerstone — will be moved to the unit that used to house Booster Juice in UniverCity.
“Today is a bittersweet day, the fact that the flagship Renaissance is closing,” McLaughlin lamented. But he expressed that it was all a part of moving forward, “creating community social space, improving areas, and really pushing the fair trade agenda.”
