The Blue Bottle Cafe

BLUE BOTTLE CAFE & ESPRESSO TO CLOSE

As of November 1st, Yelm’s popular Blue Bottle Cafe will be no more.
Owner Michelle Jones tells the Yelm Community Blog the business has been sold to a pizzeria.

Ms. Jones petitioned the City of Yelm for a variance to allow her business to sell coffee via a drive-though window. The city denied that request saying that they needed to preserve the “historical downtown core” and they were worried if her business sold, a new, large multi-national franchise operation would then have drive-though access at that prime location.
However, the city could have put a clause in an agreement that the drive-in rights were not transferable in the event of the sale of the Blue Bottle.

That the City of Yelm made doing business inside the city limits so challenging for a small business owner such as Michelle, while other businesses in the downtown core had a drive-in because of being grand-fathered in, is sad. The city should bend-over-backwards to encourage small business owners to provide products & services, adding to the city’s tax & labor revenue base.

The Blue Bottle has been host to Thurston County Commissioner Sandra Romero’s monthly coffees/public forums in Yelm.

WON’T YOU STOP BY IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS & WISH MICHELLE WELL IN HER NEW ADVENTURES.
SHE SPENT HER EFFORTS BRINGING THIS TOWN UNIQUE TALENTS, ENTERTAINMENT & A VARIETY OF GOOD FOODS AND FAIR-TRADED COFFEES.

Michelle Jones

Blue Bottle Bistro
309 Yelm Avenue East
Yelm, WA. 98597
Phone: 360-458-4611