Java Mammas Owners Hope to Pass the Baton, Not Close Permanently

When Tyler Wheeler first walked in to coffee shop, he knew he found his new hangout.

“It was a nice, relaxing place to be,” he said. “You can get work done, you can socialize, you can read. It’s just like being at home.”

Wheeler, who first came to the Main Street coffee shop as a high school student in 2004, played music in the shop in its early days and has been working at the shop since July 2010 to supplement his income as a music teacher.

Wheeler is just one of many area residents who considers Java Mammas a home away from home. But March 4 will be the coffee shop’s last hurrah if its owners don’t find someone to buy the seven-year-old business.

“Let’s hope this is just a changing of the guard,” said Nolly Murray, a Reisterstown resident who owns the shop with her friend Rebecca Coyle, a Finksburg resident.

The co-owners have decided to close after the lethal combination of a failed expansion and the economic recession has continued to put them in debt.

“It’s not that we want to close,” Coyle said. “It’s been a very emotional, trying thing and it’s made me and Nolly cry a lot.”

The shop’s difficulties date back to October 2006, when it opened a second shop at the on Chartley Drive, its owners said. After opening took more time and money than Coyle and Murray anticipated, it closed in October 2007, right around the time the economy took a dive.

“When the economy died, this shop was left to carry the burden of the other one,” Coyle said. “That shop became a ghost shop and this one dropped 30 to 40 percent.”

Coyle and Murray decided March 4 would be the shop’s last day. They are actively seeking buyers, and are talking with some interested parties.

A Community Gathering Place

Coyle and Murray met at , where they worked on drama productions together. When they opened Java Mammas in August 2004, they aimed to create a comfortable gathering place where community members could relax and hang out.

“Our mission was that people could come in here with all the worries of the day and leave with a smile on their face,” Murray said.

That mentality attracted a number of regular customers who became friends with the owners, employees and each other. Through these friendships, Murray and Coyle have attended bar and bat mitzvahs, Passover Seders and even weddings of people who met at the shop.

The comfort of the shop carried over to its , which Rob Hinkal has been running for three and a half years. Each Thursday, from 7 to 10 p.m., local musicians, poets and performers would pack in Java Mammas to showcase their talents.

“It’s been a place where a lot of people have honed their chops and where a lot of people who were too shy to play in front of people have blossomed into amazing performers,” Hinkal said.

In addition to giving local high school students a place to hang out, Hinkal said a group of musicians who were in Alcoholics Anonymous dusted off their instruments to play at the open mic.

“[They had] put down the instruments because the only place they could play was in a bar,” he said.

Hinkal said he will start a new open mic at in Catonsville on the first Thursday in April.

Reisterstown resident Brian Eney said he earned his bachelor’s in physics doing homework at Java Mammas, where he’s been a regular for four years. He first went to it out of convenience.

“They would leave me alone for hours at a time,” he said. “Eventually, I started talking to the staff and other regulars and we really forged friendships.”

Eney recently designed a website for the coffee house at no cost to them to show his appreciation.

“We’ve become a part of their lives,” Coyle said of her customers.

The walls of the shop are adorned with gifts from customers, many of which were Chanukah presents from the Christian owners’ Jewish customers.

What Does it Mean for Main Street?

Main Street coffee houses have a history of coming and going on Main Street that dates back to the mid-1990s, accoding to the Community Times.

“There’s a problem with business on Main Street and what the public will go out of their way to utilize,” said Brian Ditto, executive director of the Reisterstown-Owings Mills-Glyndon Chamber of Commerce.

While there are lot of ideas and some initiatives in motion, Ditto said all options need to be looked at carefully to keep Main Street viable.

“It’s unfortunate that it doesn’t seem like the environment is correct to support that kind of business in that location,” he said.

Glenn Barnes, president of the newly formed , is disappointed but motivated to stay true to his mission of Main Street revitalization. His group is working on façade improvements, looking into public parking options and hoping to get a zoning overlay passed that would expand possible uses of Main Street’s historic buildings.

“Our goal is what our name is,” he said. “The reason why we’re doing this is to try to help keep business here and attract new business.”

Baltimore County District 2 Councilwoman Vicki Almond hoped Java Mammas could hang on until Main Street revitalization, a priority of hers, became a reality. Almond would like to see what she calls “pocket parks,” which would be green spaces with some benches.

For a long time, Almond has also had a vision of a Reisterstown community center or tourist center in one of Main Street’s older buildings. It could house local civic organizations, hold community events and serve as a place for out-of-towners to learn about Reisterstown.

“I always thought Main Street needed a focal point,” she said.

The problem isn’t just contained to Reisterstown, either. U.S. Congressman John Sarbanes is well-aware of the problem Main Street businesses face in the wake of the recession across the state. He has taken several walking tours of Main Streets in areas he represents.

“This has been an incredibly frustrating dimension of this recession,” he said. “I continue to worry about that.”

Closing or Reopening Under New Ownership?

The shops final open mic, this Thursday, will go until midnight, and Coyle and Murray will be holding what they call a “shivah-wake,” which will be a potluck with some of their regular customers and friends. While March 4 is set to be the shop’s last day, they hope someone will step up and take over.

“We still want someone to come along, take it over and make it better,” Coyle said. “As long as the whole idea of loving the customer is not lost.”