Mona Lee and Dick Burkhart in the Whistle Stop cafe seating area shortly after opening.
Whistle Stop Co-op near Othello Station is closing December 4.
The wonderful community cafe also housed a bike shop focused on providing affordable wheels and repairs for people in the neighborhood. We profiled the shop earlier this year.
The shop was started in 2011 by Mona Lee and Dick Burkhart, longtime residents who have been cycling in Seattle and around the world for years.
They started the shop because their neighborhood had no coffee shop and no bike shop.
“If you don’t have a coffee shop, you don’t have a neighborhood,” Lee told me in 2011. When they decided to go forward with Whistle Stop, there were no coffee shops on the corner. Now, they are one of three, and that has hurt the shop’s financial stability.
From the Whistle Stop Facebook page:
Sad News… Our efforts to revitalize the cafe have not met with the results we were hoping for, and faced with no other viable option, the decision has been made to close Whistle Stop on December 4th.
Our hearts are heavy today as we start preparing to wrap things up. Your business is still very much appreciated, and we encourage you to stop by & see us over the next few weeks. Thank you for a wonderful experience and all your kindness & support.
~~Gwyn, General Manager
I know Dick B from my days advocating for the Monorail project and I’m sad to see this kind of home grown coffee shop shutter. It speaks in part to how national chains can out compete local brands.