Dottie's Coffee Closes Sunday; Owner Rufo Says It was Time
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — After announcing the sale of Dottie's Coffee Lounge, owner Jessica Rufo spoke about her reasoning behind it.
"I just decided that I couldn't and didn't have to do it anymore. My real focus right now is where I want to prioritize my time and energy is just with my kids. My oldest daughter is 14, and I just don't want to miss any more time with her," she said. "I have two other children who are younger, and I'm recently divorced, and so there are also a lot of complications with trying to manage running a business this size and be the mom that I need and want to be without any help. So it's entirely personal."
Rufo opened the coffee shop in 2007 to bring New York City-style coffee to the community.
"The city was just like, so supportive. You know, I came here thinking I'm gonna open up this coffee shop in Pittsfield, I moved back from Brooklyn, and if I open up a cool spot, then someone else will open up a cool spot, and then someone else will and then we'll have a nice, vibrant downtown, it was very childish, but it was very true," she said.
Rufo said she'd planned on stepping back over the last couple of years but didn't expect it to come so soon. She was hoping to hit 20 years.
"When I took over Mission in 2022 that was an exit plan for me. I just didn't know it was going to come up as early as it did. I figured that I would make it to the 20-year mark and then make a decision. But I knew when I bought that, when I had that opportunity, it was one that I had to take because the size of the kitchen, there was a hood, there was a dishwasher," she said of the adjacent space that became Dorothy's Estamint. "I didn't have any of that over here. So I was either gonna have to walk away from my business whenever I was ready to walk away from it, or have an opportunity to sell it, because it'd be much more marketable with a real kitchen."
Rufo also explained that when her father passed away, her life changed.
"The past two years I just really fell out of love with what I was doing. I lost my dad two years ago, and I think that my whole way I wanted to live my life just kind of changed. And I just realized how much time I've given my business and how little time I've given my family, and it just seemed like a real waste, seemed like a misdirection, whereas before, it felt like I was really pursuing my dreams of being a business owner and being a female business owner and building community," she said. "I just feel like I did it, and now, like my dad's not here to pat me on the back and tell me what a good job I'm doing ... So it just felt empty, almost like I wasn't doing it for the right reasons anymore."
Rufo said she wouldn't have been able to make it through the last 18 years without her loyal customers and employees.
"The people who came here and supported it every day, 70 percent of our customers on a daily basis were regulars. Came in like, four to seven times a week, you know, I get the credit, and I shouldn't, because, I just made sure there was coffee and that the lights were on, you know, I paid the bills, tried to steer the ship," she said. "But we just always had the best employees and the best customers."
Rufo said she had two dream buyers in mind — one is musician Amanda Palmer but the one she says is more realistic is Nancy Thomas, who owns Mezze Bistro and Bar.
"Nancy's integrity and her quality and her attention to detail and her wisdom, and she's just like a woman doing bad ass things. And I just feel like she and Pittsfield would be such a great collaboration," she said, adding she was going to reach out to Thomas.
Regardless, she hopes anyone who decides to buy it has the heart and passion for Dottie's.
"The message that I want to put out there is really about connecting with potential buyers that want to do a project like this, it's a really great opportunity for somebody who wants to hop in on a mature business. I mean, I really am much more interested in finding a buyer who has the heart, you know, as opposed to a wallet, and that's more important to me. I don't want downtown to lose Dotties."
Dottie's last day will be Sunday, July 6, with normal hours and will have live music. Rufo is hoping that it won't be closed for long.
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