At a time when locally owned coffee houses across the world are closing due to ever-expanding chains (like Starbucks and McDonald’s), here’s some refreshing news: Palm Springs’ Koffi recently announced plans to open a third location in Rancho Mirage.
However, a quick look at the spot slated to house the new location, at 71390 Highway 111, reveals that any opening is likely months away.
Koffi’s original spot, at 515 N. Palm Canyon Drive, was opened by owners John Abner and John Strohm in August 2002. They doubled the size of the place in 2005, and opened the second location, at 1700 S. Camino Real (at Palm Canyon Drive, across Camino Real from the Ace Hotel), in 2008.
At the Camino Real location, a large “Road Map to Koffi” poster has for weeks announced that the Rancho Mirage location—in the building that was formerly home to Amici Italian Trattoria, just a bit east of the Rancho Mirage Public Library—is “coming soon.”
Abner and Strohm, through Koffi general manager Troy Neifert, declined to comment for this story.
Therefore, I swung by 71390 Highway 111 today to peek in the windows. The space—which features a cute outdoor patio area to the west—was vacant and largely stripped out, save for some construction materials, including some orange cones.
We’ll keep our eye on the announced new Koffi location, and will post updates when available.
Have restaurant news? Got a tip? Email jboegle@cvindependent.com.
It does not surprise me that the simple act of responding to free publicity to drum up excitement and knowledge about their new location would be a difficult act for the non-communicative Koffi clan. You would think that they would see the opportunity to connect with their community and share their own… “excitement”… with seasoned and potential customers, even if just for good, jolly fun. It seems to be their M.O. these days no matter how or why you try to connect with them. What happened?