One of my favourite downtown Whitehorse landmarks announced this week it is closing, succumbing to the pressure of big business moving in.
Zola’s Café Doré is a coffeehouse on Main Street owned by a coffee bean brewer famous in Whitehorse. Whenever I had the chance to do a face-to-face interview while writing for the paper, I almost always chose the quiet back room, painted red, at Zola’s. Everyone knew where it was, the clientele was loyal and frequent, and the coffee was phenomenal. It had my favourite: decaf chai latté. The walls were lined with the paintings and photographs of local artisans, the walls muralled with scenes boasting a coffee revolution.
When Starbucks announced they would be opening a second location in Whitehorse on Main Street, I surveyed coffee drinkers and business owners for an article, gauging whether or not the coffee giant’s infringement on the street’s independent coffee shops would cause their demise. Most thought the mom and pop shops’ customers were loyal enough to continue offering their business, despite the corporate competition down the block. The Starbucks staff and the small shops’ owners all told me they thought there was room for everyone to strive and prosper. Not so, it seems. The Main Street Starbucks opened its doors a month ago, and now Zola’s has announced it is closing.
True, there is a Tim Horton’s around the block, another small coffee shop down the street and Java Connection a few streets over. That’s a lot of coffee in one area. Then again, that’s where all the government workers are stationed from 9 to 5.
I don’t know if this is a case of corporate box store using its solid and internationally-backed franchise structure to dominate the downtown coffee market with its jazzy familiar menu and predictable interior, but it sure is coincidental that Zola’s is now closing.
I like Starbucks. I like their chai lattés too, and their hot chocolate isn’t bad. In the summer, they’re the only place I know that offers green tea lemonade. I like jazz music, and I really listen to it, while I sit in their plush seats in the warm coloured décor. I think it’s comforting. I still think that if I had to choose a spot to do an interview, I’d choose Zola’s. Not only is it taboo in Whitehorse to express admiration for “the man” or the corporate giant, especially considering the hippie and neo-hippie demographic, but Zola’s was always Zen, always calm- even for a coffee joint.

Labels: consumerism, tea, Whitehorse