Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Coffee shop Barista Parlor, one of 12 new tenants that accompanied the 2023 renovation of the Stutz Motor Car Co. factory complex, permanently closed its Indianapolis location.
Owner Andy Mumma, who opened the first Barista Parlor shop 14 years ago in Nashville, Tennessee, told IBJ that long-distance management posed challenges for the business.
“I have learned a lot about operating out-of-state cafes since opening Stutz,” Mumma said Monday. “It’s been very hard to be successful and give it the same level of attention as our Nashville cafes. As a small business, BP just doesn’t have the resources needed to thrive so far from home base.”
Barista Parlor presently operates seven shops in Nashville and one in Louisville.
In Indianapolis, Barista Parlor emphasized an auto-racing aesthetic through a gleaming oval bar and an overhead neon light suggestive of the shape of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We loved being there but, for a number of reasons, it just was time to move on,” Mumma said. “We had a great run for these two years and I’m so thankful to have been part of the Stutz and Indianapolis community. The people in Indy are just incredible and I thank the city for welcoming us so openly.”
The 2,600-square-foot coffee shop served customers in the same section of the Stutz that features food and beverage spots Cafe Patachou, Amelia’s Bread, Julieta Taco Shop and Turner’s Bar.
SomeraRoad Inc., a New York-based commercial real estate investment firm that acquired the property in 2021, invested $65 million to renovate the Stutz.
Stutz Motor Co. built luxury cars, race cars and safety vehicles at the former factory at the corner of 10th Street and Capitol Avenue from 1911 through 1935. Automobile engineer and designer Harry C. Stutz was known for building a car in less than five weeks to compete in the first Indianapolis 500. The car driven by Gil Anderson placed 11th in the race.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
Sad that it didn’t make it because I think they’re one of the better coffees, but that area is probably oversaturated for coffee even if they were the best ones. Amelia’s and Patachou is in the same complex, and a remodeled Starbucks is down the street.
…make that TWO Starbucks less than half a mile away to the north and west, plus TWO Tinker Coffee shops at 16 Tech and Methodist. Yeah, it’s a pretty saturated market.
Good coffee indeed, but what about the other items on the menu? It felt like it was gunning for a refined hipster vibe that it failed to achieve. If I’m spending $11 for a breakfast sandwich that barely fits a saucer, I would hope there’s enough going on in it that I won’t be hungry afterward. That wasn’t the case there.
Besides, a really densely populated neighborhood could support multiple coffee shops within a few blocks. But the Stutz complex has basically a vacant lot right across the street.
Better to see homegrown Amelia’s survive. All in all a better establishment.
Is it me or is every coffee shop now functionally a mini office park, basically unwelcoming to anybody that isn’t getting paid to send/receive emails?
No surprise at the Stutz. Oversold and not enough population to support it. Once IU Health Methodist Hospital is complete, and the proposed adjacent apartments are built, then it probably could be supported.
This side of downtown has great potential but has largely been stagnant for past decade, minus development with IU health to north. Many vacant lots surrounding stutz that could be developed to add density to support this shop. Until then, the “oversaturation” argument holds truth with a strong downtown coffee scene.