The Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company, located on the corner of Adams Street and Oak Avenue, announced its closure on Wednesday last week, saying, “The last few years have been incredibly difficult for us.”

Reactions from customers at St. Helena’s oldest cafe ranged from dismay to devastated.

“This place is the only reason I get up,” says Leslie Stanton, who often chats with friends at the store’s communal table.

Co-owner Ben Sange said the store will be replaced by another cafe in a few months. Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company’s flagship store in Napa will remain open and free home deliveries will continue to be offered through the company’s website.

But St. Helena customers say they miss the shop’s welcoming, homey atmosphere. They say the volume of the music encourages conversation, and the tastefully distressed, earth-toned decor is a world away from the sleek, industrial, sterile ambience of some modern cafes.

A group of women had been meeting since the cafe – also known as The Roastery and RoCo – opened 33 years ago as an extension of their children’s playgroup. The mothers would drop their children off at St. Helena Elementary School and then walk to the cafe on the next block.

Marilyn Coy said the group supported each other through “births, deaths, divorces, whatever.”

“It’s cheaper than therapy,” joked Kelly Wheaton, another member of the group.

Chandler Smith, who has been visiting the cafe since moving to St. Helena just over a year ago, called it “a relaxed place.”

“The staff is great and you meet a lot of interesting, friendly people,” he said.

Stanton remembers strolling through downtown St. Helena with the late Leon Sange. Sange had founded the company’s Napa business in 1985 and wanted to bring a Parisian-style coffeehouse to St. Helena. As they passed a former dry cleaners on the corner of Oak and Adams, Stanton pointed to a “For Sale” sign and told Sange, “This is the perfect location.”

“Leon said it had to be on Main Street,” Stanton recalled. “I said, ‘No, there’s no parking on Main Street. Look at those windows and all that space.’ The next day he bought it.”

Billy Summers said the shop had “become a community collective” where St Helenans from different backgrounds could engage in “spiritual, political and local village discussions from different perspectives”.

“Sometimes there can be jealousy, but ultimately it always comes down to mutual respect,” Summers said. “Everyone is welcome at this table.”

“There is a connection here, a spiritual elevation that is indescribable and undeniable,” said Steve Shifflett.

Although the St. Helena store was a spinoff of a Napa company, it maintained a strong local identity, employing local students as baristas during the summer, providing space for flyers about local events, and selling unique blends that benefited local groups like Rianda House, the UpValley Family Centers, and the St. Helena Police and Fire Departments.

In an interview, Sange thanked the café’s customers for their decades of support.

He declined to provide any details about the new company that will take over the premises owned by his family.

“I want to maintain the continuity of a place where the community can come together,” he said, adding that he hopes the community table will be preserved.

He said the pandemic-related closure in March 2020 was a turning point. Before that, business on St. Helena had experienced the usual ups and downs, but since then it has been a struggle.

Sange started home deliveries in the hope that “a little bag of comfort” would help people cope with the stress of the pandemic. With the help of loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Sange kept the St. Helena store running, primarily for the benefit of his employees.

The economy started moving again, but business activity never recovered.

Sange noted that business is better in downtown Napa because there is more foot traffic than in St. Helena.

Sange, who grew up in St. Helena, echoed the argument of other downtown businesspeople: “More second homes mean fewer full-time locals and therefore fewer customers for local businesses.”

“It’s just an anecdote, but that’s how it feels,” he said.

When asked how businesses on St. Helena can adapt to the city’s changing demographics, he shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said. “If I knew, I would. It’s very frustrating that I can’t find out.”