|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Specialty’s Café & Bakery, a restaurant brand headquartered in Pleasanton and operating more than 50 locations in three states, announced on Friday that they will be closing for good in the days ahead.
Two of those shops are located in Pleasanton, one prominently seen on Hopyard Road just off the freeway and the other in a business complex on Stoneridge Mall Road.
Officials with the company, which is owned by FEMSA, cited difficulties caused by the novel coronavirus crisis as the main reason for their decision to cease operations of all Specialty Cafés.
“Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery is closing after 33 years of business. Current market conditions attributed to COVID-19 and shelter-in-place policies have decimated company revenues,” representatives said in a one-paragraph on the Specialty’s website.
“Our last day of operations will be Tuesday, May 19th, 2020. Our customer service team will be reaching out to cancel and refund any orders placed for Wednesday, May 20th and beyond. We sincerely thank you for your business and support over the years,” they added.
The statement, which is the new landing page, is the only aspect of the Specialty’s website still active — all other previous tabs and pages on the site appear to have been taken down.
Founded in the Bay Area in 1987, Specialty’s Café & Bakery focused on breakfast and lunch items and baked goods made from scratch, along with coffee beverages. In addition to sales to individual customers at shops, the Specialty’s model involved serving business clients and other large group orders.
Specialty’s operated more than 50 shops operating in California, Washington and Illinois. In Pleasanton, Specialty’s had a standalone restaurant at 5331 Hopyard Road and a cafe in a building at the Pleasanton Corporate Commons complex at 6200 Stoneridge Mall Road.
The company relocated its headquarters to Pleasanton around 2014, and its offices were located in a multi-tenant office building down Hopyard Road. The Specialty’s brand was acquired by Mexico-based corporation FEMSA after transactions in 2016 and 2017.
This is heartbreaking news. We love their cookies, soups, and delicious breakfast.
I always thought they were overpriced. Last time I ate them was because someone else paid.
This is very sad news. I loved their food and baked goods. Heartbreaking. 🙁
Loved all the food, drinks, and cookies. So sad they are closing. I ate there once a week. How about selling the cookies online????
Agree with another reply…always thought it was overpriced. I enjoy their sandwiches, and the cookies are pretty amazing, but I never personally paid to eat there. It was always on the company dime for a working lunch.
I can’t believe it. I first learned of Specialty’s in the late nineties while working in San Francisco. They always had the freshest bread for lunch sandwiches and of course best cookies. I’ve seen them expand over the years even down to Southern California. If you haven’t had their food you missed out. This is so sad. To all the employees, I loved your excellent service and great food. I hope you the best in your future endeavors.
Honestly not much of a loss. Sandwiches were meh and too pricey. Instead I feel bad for the loss of jobs, but hopefully these people can be rehired by whatever (better) restaurants take their places.
Place was really good. Another sad loss.
As I have said in other articles, every time we wake up another business is gone. It appears unless you are a billionaire Democrat in this state as Elon Musk is you are not given exemptions or considerations. A very good article in the Federalist about Elon Musk’s defiance: https://thefederalist.com/2020/05/18/you-shouldnt-have-to-be-a-billionaire-like-elon-musk-to-re-open-your-business/
This is sad news but we have to think on a brighter side. It’s for the safety of everybody.
– Matthew Connors, Arlington Land Surveyors
https://www.arlingtonlandsurveyors.com