TheBuzz
TheBuzz
The freestanding coffee shop at the Punchbowl end of Restaurant Row has reopened. Wizard's Coffee sole proprietor James Johnston opened his company's second location Aug. 1, and hopes the signs will be in place by the end of next week. New Java joint brews
up fresh cup at the RowColliers Monroe & Friedlander, which acts as leasing agent and property manager for Waterfront Plaza, spent several months seeking "a quality coffee operator," according to CEO Andrew Friedlander.
"We're looking at a short-term situation to provide amenities and services to our tenants and neighbors," he said earlier this summer.
Johnston said he'll operate the open-air coffee shop under a three-month license agreement while Colliers reviews long-term plans for the space. He said the short-term nature of the agreement gives him an "out," but added, "if things are going well they'll renew me."
Prices at Wizard's range from $1.35 for a small cup o' joe to $3.75 for a large latte or mocha. He said he would keep the operation simple, with one employee and possibly hire another.
The first location, a kiosk at Dole Cannery, was started via a partnership with his sister Catherine Yoblonski in 1996.
The following year the partnership was dissolved, Johnston became sole proprietor and his sister now runs the kiosk.
Wizard's new spot will operate from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, while the Dole location closes half an hour earlier.
Formerly known as "Bad Ass Coffee Company," the previous concessionaire lost the right to use the name more than a year and a half ago. It subsequently operated under at least two other names.
Brian Gaston was one of the two servers who, along with a bookkeeper, were employed by the previous concessionaire. He said the owner's partner sold the "Bad Ass" name to a Salt Lake City, Utah, company, and was then forced to change the name of the shop but never put up new signs.
The former lessee, an attorney in Las Vegas, was not available for comment.
Gaston and fellow former co-worker Dawn Jackson hoped to reopen the lucrative business on their own after encouragement from former customers, but their proposal was declined.
Gaston said he was given the impression their affiliation with the previous lessee was behind the decision.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com