“I’m saddened because we love our relationship within the communities we serve and we love the consumer business,” the company's president, John Van Tongeren, wrote on the company website. “COVID devastated our business, and we had to make a choice to survive.”
Ferris Production Manager Evan Groendyk said while the downtown location had parking and traffic challenges earlier on, the shift away from downtown offices to working from home during the pandemic “devastated our sales.”
Ferris Coffee plans to focus on its headquarters on Seward Avenue near Seventh Street NW, where it will expand the retail and café spaces. The nearly century-old roasting company says it’s conceptualizing ideas and designs for the addition.