Despite a successful fundraising campaign to keep its doors open, Intrepid Life Coffee & Spirits—a downtown Durham coffee shop owned and operated by military veterans—closed last week.
The hybrid coffee shop and bar, which opened eight months ago, announced several weeks ago that it would be forced to close if it could not pay overdue rent and make improvements to the store. Owner Matt Victoriano launched a fundraising campaign on website Indiegogo that yielded $28,743, surpassing his $27,000 goal—even with the funding, however, the shop was not able to remain open in its current location.
But the end of Intrepid's time on Parrish Street does not mean the end of the store. Victoriano noted that he is currently looking to relocate the store to a more affordable space and hopes to reopen soon.
"[The fundraising money] was enough to pack back the rent, but my landlords weren’t willing to come to an agreement with me on paying back rent and keeping up the space for the remainder of the time,” Victoriano said.
The store had a successful opening in the spring—attracting a number of Duke students and faculty—but struggled in the summer. Victoriano raised the money in just two weeks, thanks in large part to an online advertisement that highlighted the shop’s mission of bringing people together to support each other. The coffee shop prides itself not only on hiring veterans from the community but also being a place where people can connect through charity and personal advocacy groups, Victoriano said.
“It’s also an environment where veterans can come to see how their…experiences from the military directly translate over to the workplace,” said Victoriano, himself a former Marine Corps sergeant team leader for scout and sniper teams during two tours in Iraq.
He said he hopes to open a new store in Golden Belt—a historic textile mill on East Main Street that has been redesigned to house artist studios, loft apartments, offices and restaurants. Victoriano said customers can expect the same “open, relaxing area to sit down and do work comfortably” that they found in the original shop in its new location.
Senior Tera Kashgarian said she felt Intrepid was in a convenient location downtown and was a good place for off-campus students. But she also noted that the coffee shop seemed to have excess space and could still be a late-night coffee staple even if it has to move to a different location.
“It could be better with a smaller, cozier vibe,” she said. “I think that would help.”
Victoriano added that free parking by the Golden Belt location might attract more business. He said he hopes to open the new location within the next month.
Georgia Parke contributed reporting.
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