Longtime Oakland business owner optimistic about downtown rebound
OAKLAND -- Longtime Oakland business Mr. Espresso opened its first retail cafe this week, expanding the family business that started decades ago in the East Bay.
The spot joins a trend of new businesses helping downtown's recovery years after the pandemic with foot traffic still not back to the levels seen in early 2020.
"We've been getting a pretty good reception so far. People seem to be excited to check out the new spot," said Luigi Di Ruocco, co-owner of Mr. Espresso. "We still believe pretty strongly in the downtown Oakland market, but we also know there are some limitations based on office capacities."
The store opened on Monday after several delays due to construction, and more than three years after they signed the lease for the location.
The Di Ruocco family begin distributing their Italian-style oak wood roasted coffee in the Bay Area 45 years ago. The new endeavor continues to celebrate their heritage with a long bar similar to what you might see in Italy. Customers are encouraged to order at the bar and enjoy their drink, spreading across it rather than waiting in a line away from the cashiers and baristas.
"Our coffee roasting philosophy, the foundation of it comes from an Italian perspective," he told KPIX. "We wanted to recreate an Italian coffee bar style vibe here."
Di Ruocco remembers that downtown was thriving when they were preparing to open this store. As they finally begin service, he notices a need for more people to return to the office and increase business for him and others in the local economy. He hopes the unique concept they bring to the cafe stands out and helps them continue to grow in the East Bay.
"We've been operating our business in Oakland since we were founded in 1978, we've been here all these years," he said. "We wouldn't look to open our first cafe anywhere else but here."
He's optimistic the recovery for this downtown may be faster than other cities. Experts in the real estate market agree. Oakland benefits from a strong presence of residents in the downtown neighborhood and a nightlife that keeps businesses busy outside of the usual workday, according to the Downtown Oakland Association.
"There is a lot of things to bring people downtown you know during the daytime for sure, we just need people to come down here and support it," said Jamie Flaherty-Evans, principal at Chromata Real Estate and vice president of the Downtown Oakland Association. "There really is a lot of good happening in Oakland and we just need Oaklanders and others to support and come down here."
Flaherty-Evans says restaurants, bars, and cafes are usually the first to fill up open spaces with locally run businesses. She says almost 90 percent of her business is in Oakland and most of it is downtown with more deals in the works. She is optimistic about the months ahead, but says more people need to return to the office for them to get back to pre-pandemic levels sooner.
"We need office to come back. We know we're not going to see office five days a week, eight hours a day, but we need to have people come back downtown to work, to eat, to shop," she told KPIX. "We need people out and about."
Di Ruocco is focused on making his first cafe succeed and continue the family tradition, which is now in its second generation running Mr. Espresso. But he hopes the growth they make at this location could allow them to open other cafes in the future.
"We believe in the area. We want to see it do well," he said.
