A Toronto coffee shop with locations across the city just announced that they'll soon be closing a location that's been around for nearly a decade.

Whether you stay away from caffeine or your daily cup-of-joe intake is nearing the double digits (regrettably, I fall more closely into the latter category), there's a likely chance you've come across Boxcar Social in your Toronto food and drink adventures.

Now operating five locations across Toronto, the latest of which being a spot in the new Waterworks Food Hall on Brant, the chain has become a household name in the city ever since opening their original Summerhill location back in 2014.

Shortly thereafter, their Riverside location opened its doors in 2015, turning a more-than 100 year old building on a quiet residential street just off Queen East into a bustling go-to spot for the neighbourhood to sit down over specialty brews from third-wave coffee roasters or, later in the day, craft beer and wine selections.

Nearly a decade after opening the doors of the Riverside location at 4 Boulton Avenue, though, Boxcar broke the hearts of its many local regulars by taking to Instagram earlier this week to announce that the cafe would soon be shutting down for good.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by B O X C A R S O C I A L (@boxcar_social)

In what seems like a shocking turn, the cafe announced that its last service will be on Friday, Oct. 11, before closing down for good at 5 p.m.

A representative from Boxcar, however, tells blogTO that the decision to close down the location wasn't quite as sudden of a decision as it may seem. In fact, Boxcar Riverside has been a labour of love since the start.

"We loved this location," the representative says, "though since the beginning it has been quite difficult to make profitable."

To make things even more difficult, in the years since opening, the competition in the area has grown immeasurably more fierce, with the Garden Centre Cafe, Tim Hortons and Jimmys Coffee all opening locations — and popular ones — within the immediate surrounding area.

"That's 4 cafes within 10 metres of each other," the representative notes.

A change of ownership which the representative tells blogTO "did not work out" and, oh yeah, this little pandemic that closed things down for a while followed, so when the cafe's lease renewal came up this fall, the Boxcar team decided it was time to say goodbye to Riverside.

"We made the difficult decision to close the location and put our focus on ensuring our other locations thrive," the representative says.

While there don't appear to be any immediate plans for a Boxcar Social revival on Toronto's east side, you can still visit Boxcar at their Harbourfront, Laneway (Little Italy), Summerhill and Waterworks locations.