I gave a 5 star review to Olde Towne several years ago. I'm now amending it.
Olde Towne was my favorite coffee shop for ages- it was a favorite of every "alternative," type local- in high school, we'd go there to do our homework. I'm now 34.
They were a vital part of the Huntsville experience- live shows, either inside, with like, a guy playing Bush or Oasis on an acoustic guitar, or out back, on a little tiny stage, with nothing but a one-drink minimum as an entrance fee- like a hot chocolate, which also helped you keep warm.
When construction was announced for and began on the (rather high end) apartments currently being built very close to Olde Towne Coffee Shoppe, the owners (who bought the store from its previous owners, and had little to do with the day to day running of the place, but knew enough to hire competent management to do so), rather than opting to continue running the store the way it had always been run- as a well known, "alternative" style coffee shop, run by and catering to a more counterculture demographic- they instead decided to change the place, hoping to appeal to a different demographic- the rich people moving in next door.
So, they fired the manager, who pretty much did everything- her ideas in the recipes in their monthly specials, their decor, even the music playing in the store was her. I don't even know what all else she did tbh, but I do know that nowhere else in town is playing any Tori Amos- whereas I used to have somewhere I went, sometimes twice a day, that did.
Firing her cost them their entire crew, because it caused a mass walk out- all the employees had been hired and trained by her. Ever since, the owners (at least one of whom has always complained about having to work there period), have had to be there, working, a lot more- and they don't like it, and they don't know how to do things as well the people who worked there before- people who actually took pride in what they did. So, their quality has gone downhill, and the old regulars don't go there anymore.
So, some rich AHs wanted to make more money, messed around with a well loved Huntsville landmark where they never fit in anyway, and are now stuck working there, burning the espresso beans, etc., after started trying to appeal to the rich people who are moving in nearby, rather than continuing to serve the people who made them Huntsville-famous- so, it was a big cash grab, one that unfortunately cost the city a rare place of actual culture.
But, now everyone knows how they treat their employees, and their quality has gone downhill. So, people don't go there anymore. read more