Notable Vancouver coffee shop closes another downtown location
We’re sad to report that another Vancouver cafe has unfortunately closed its doors.
JJ Bean shared on its website that it closed its Dunsmuir location on February 26, 20205.
“We love this neighbourhood and our people at Dunsmuir but like every business, we are sometimes forced to make difficult decisions,” shared the cafe online.
In addition to this location, within the last two years, JJ Bean has closed its Woodward’s and CBC Plaza locations, both of which had been operating for over 10 years.
So, Dished reached out to JJ Bean CEO John Neate for more information on the recent closures and the future of the Vancouver-based coffee company.
JJ Bean Dunsmuir
Neate said that the main reason for the closure of JJ Bean Dunsmuir was a similar issue that he faced at his now-closed Woodward’s location: the safety of his employees.
As an example, Neate referred to an incident that took place across the street from his Dunsmuir location in September 2024, which police described as âcompletely random stranger attacksâ that left one man dead and another with life-altering injuries.
“Our staff started getting worried,” Neate said.
Additionally, he faced similar issues with people overdosing in the washrooms and damages to the building.
“Between Dunsmuir and Woodward’s, we were getting a call a month of broken glass in the middle of the night,” he said. “Each time a glass breaks, it’s like $1,500, and insurance doesn’t cover it, or you can get insurance, but basically you’re paying for it because they know how often it breaks, so it’s not worth getting.”
So, Neate made the difficult decision to close JJ Bean’s Dunsmuir location.
“We had one year left in our lease, and after that, we had a five-year renewal. And we thought, you know, instead of just closing it down, we might as well get something for our leasehold improvements.”
Now, a new cafe has already opened in its place called Cafe Marie.
Plus, for those still looking to get their JJ Bean fix in the area, Neate said they can visit its Park Place location at 609 Hornby St., Vancouver.
The future of JJ Bean
Despite all the recent closures, when it comes to the future of JJ Bean as a whole, Neate said things are going very well for the coffee chain, and customers don’t have to worry about them going anywhere.
“We continue to get rated as the number one cafe in Vancouver, and it’s because we have exceptional staff and exceptional places and exceptional coffee, and our baked goods kill it. There are lineups almost every day.”
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Neate also added that JJ Bean has plans to open three new locations within the next year and a half in areas like Vancouver’s Oceanic Plaza and New Westminster.
JJ Bean Dunsmuir
Address:Â 425 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver
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