Downtown’s only coffee shop, Dragonfly on Fifth, has officially closed its doors.
Now, Gilroy’s downtown locale is once again in need of a place to enjoy an Americano or latte while studying, meeting with friends or utilizing free Wi-Fi on Monterey Street – and it looks like a new entrepreneur has stepped up to the plate.
Two large paper signs covering the front windows of the temporarily empty cafe herald a forthcoming “5th Street Coffee & Roasting Co.,” which will take its place in the pantheon of caffeine dispensaries that have occupied the corner nook at 7501 Monterey St.
Initial reports from Gary Walton, downtown property owner and downtown enthusiast, as well as Coordinator Melanie Corona with the Gilroy Downtown Business Association, confirmed that the new owner was Police Sgt. Daniel Castaneda. That information was incorrect, however, as the Dispatch discovered Wednesday. The new owner is actually a local named Yolanda Castaneda.
Castaneda, a first-time business owner, comes from the financial field and has been a resident of Gilroy for more than 20 years with her husband, Daniel Pina – a former Morgan Hill Animal Control Officer.
“We want to bring more people of all ages into downtown to enjoy a cup of coffee,” Castaneda said. “We are planning to have music in the evenings and on weekends, and perhaps a small area with a couple of computers with free Wi-Fi for customers to use while they are here.”
Most recently Philip Willis, 35, and his wife revamped the espresso bar formerly known Sue’s Coffee last February, hoping to bring new life and fresh ideas to the cafe space that also features its own roasting equipment and piano.
But Willis, a first-time food and beverage business owner, struggled to keep the coffee shop open for months. He eventually slashed the store’s hours in half and began searching for a buyer to replace him.
Willis never completed many of the projects he had in mind when he first opened, such as replacing the bright orange cafeteria-like chairs with comfortable couches and the grocery store tile floor with something more aesthetic.
Walton noted in December that with the right about of research and pizzazz, a buyer could revive the closing coffee shop that has changed hands several times in the last 25 years.
“We need a good operator. It would be terrible for downtown to not have a coffee shop,” said Walton previously.
Castaneda may just be that “good operator.”
“I have my husband helping, and my sisters working with me as consultants and in many other areas for the shop,” Castaneda explained. “We are changing the floors, the wall colors, the furniture, and adding new displays. I think people will really like it.”
