Michael Thomas Coffee closes Carlisle location

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — For 19 years, Michael Thomas Coffee has been serving New Mexicans. However, that’s coming to a halt at one of their locations.

In a heartfelt social media post, owner Michael Sweeney says it was an extremely emotional decision he came to after they were unable to staff their Carlisle location.

“We are seeing this as temporary and believe we will be back open as soon as possible. I want to express my gratitude to all who have taken part in the Carlisle shop throughout the 19 years of operation. We look forward to many more.”

Sweeney told KOB 4 that the shop celebrated their 19th anniversary on Oct. 4.

“We came to the abrupt decision that we had to close our Carlisle location due to staffing, but this has been a long time coming, since COVID, the last three years, we have struggled through maintaining staffing and maintaining our health,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney said they had hired 65 people last year, and nearly 50 this year. Some put their notice in before even starting a shift, and other applicants didn’t show up to training sessions after getting hired.

“We are just at a point that we are depleted, our staff is depleted, and we have to focus on that,” Sweeney said. “We had to make a decision that was very painful but feels very positive because we are able to support ourselves, as well as our team and staff.”

They hope the closing is temporary. For now, they will be putting all of the effort into their Nob Hill location on Bryn Mawr, which will remain open.

The lease on the Carlisle location is up in January, and then they will have to figure out what to do. For now, they are still roasting out of that location.