Bad Ass Coffee store goes belly up in Chesapeake

Posted to: Business Chesapeake
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By Mike Saewitz
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 6, 2009

Bad Ass Coffee, the store with the donkey logo and controversial name, has closed its location on Cedar Road.

The store opened last year in the Cedar Lakes Center, just down the street from City Hall. Owner Donna Merson, who became intrigued with the name while on vacation, did not return a message left for her Monday.

A sign on the door said the coffeehouse had gone out of business due to “unforeseen circumstances.”

The city received some complaints about the name and checked in with the commonwealth’s attorney about whether the name could be considered obscene. It wasn't.

Bad Ass has dozens of franchises in places such as Florida and California. A Virginia Beach store, its only remaining one in Hampton Roads, is still open.

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HAHA

Submitted by amandalynn on Sun, 08/16/2009 at 1:37 pm.

Its funny how people react to the name. i worked from the day it opened to the day it closed. the customers we had were amazing. The owners were the nicest people on the planet. i find it so obscure that people can freak out and throw a huge hissy fit over the name. BAD ASS. its not a curse word because we are using it to refer to a DONKEY. ASS=Donkey its in the bible for crying out loud

If you found the name of the

Submitted by hsmaury on Fri, 04/10/2009 at 10:15 am.

If you found the name of the business to be so offensive, and clearly you did, THEN DON'T GO THERE. Plain and simple. No one is forcing you to go there and give them your business. And ass IS a word for donkey. The Bible uses it --- but I'm pretty sure you already knew that.

Yorgos in downtown Norfolk

Submitted by Ethan on Wed, 04/08/2009 at 9:49 am.

Yorgos in downtown Norfolk is gone.

What's in a name...

Submitted by Trubritt on Wed, 04/08/2009 at 8:31 am.

I can't believe these comments. Do any of you have children? Has anyone besides me had to explain to their young readers what "ass" means? You act like we are crazy to be offended by a curse word being hung in public and expecting to be normal and popular?? Would you let your little kids run around saying things are "Bad Ass"? What kind of example is that? I can't believe how low people's standards are now. I'm so glad it's finally out of business and I would never go in there and show my children that I would support a place that just normalizes language like that. Honestly, who are they marketing to?

Speaking of coffee, what's

Submitted by Ethan on Tue, 04/07/2009 at 6:29 pm.

Speaking of coffee, what's up with Yorgo's in downtown Norfolk?

Jumping on my..

Submitted by charlesw18004 on Tue, 04/07/2009 at 2:43 pm.

"Bad Ass" motorcycle now and riding around on it...See ya later!!

Miss It..

Submitted by Kraut_Fan on Tue, 04/07/2009 at 2:32 pm.

I sure miss my my morning Bad Ass Coffee and Bagel every morning.. Medium in a Large Cup, 2% milk.. mmmmmmm. Sad they closed, I even tried to pay on the last day. I miss my morning "sunshine" from CoryGirl..

Lots of negative feedback about the name and even some on the owner.. Its a business, it closed, the end. Stop making ignorant assumptions.

OMG!

Submitted by paulas30224 on Tue, 04/07/2009 at 11:54 am.

So RJA...guess you haven't frequented Bob's Grill in OBX...his famous quote is "eat and get the hell out!" And boy are you missing some good food!! What happened to the famous old saying "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me". That is all it is people...WORDS!!!

In this day and age, one has

Submitted by Ethan on Tue, 04/07/2009 at 11:29 am.

In this day and age, one has to wonder what the future of all of these small businesses is. When a retail establishment charges $3 or $4 for product that any consumer could make at home for cents per cup, what is the long term sustainability? With Americans spending more than they make, as a whole, the past few years (this has changed now of course), what is the future of all these small boutique stores that have huge markup? We have the internet now, is there really any need for the stores? Same goes with food in restaurants. Large prices on huge portions, give me half please! You don't have to wonder why Americans are so obese, just look at the serving in most restaurants. Looking for an office to use as a lab, I saw no shortage of spaces for rent (but all the asking prices were high). Everytime I see a store going out of business I think, "Why are they paying $22/sqft a year for space? What a waste! Shouldn't they be working on their website instead?"

Work vs Game

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 04/07/2009 at 9:00 am.

Sometimes a person(s) enter into a franchise business thinking it's all fun and games. In a coffee franchise not only do you place a large some of personal monies into the business. But, you have to adhere to the parent franchise organization and their quotas. Then the business is no longer a cute idea, but REAL work. At that point the new francise owner finds out this is WORK and not a game. This may be the case with "Bad Ass Coffee." I know of coffee shoppes when started were good ideas. Then when the newest wears off and customers slow down to visit the shoppe. The owners WANT OUT! I'm a small business owner and it's hard work to make ends meet and one day it will pay-off! In this economy you have to plan to be a SURVIVOR!