Fair Trade Café at Civic Space Park officially closes their doors
Downtown Phoenix is becoming an experimental, sensitive and artistic place thanks to the local art and business scene — which you can easily correlate with the city’s local coffee shops.
However, it wasn’t due to any lack of artistic ability, comfort or taste that recently closed Fair Trade Café.
This Fair Trade Café location posted a paper sign on their doors telling customers about the unfortunate news.
“We are sad to say this location of Fair Trade Café has closed,” the sign in their door read. “We are still open at 1020 N 1st Ave. Thanks for all the years of loyal patronage.”
The Fair Trade Café serves a plethora of beverages including coffee drinks, teas, smoothies and also food. They offer breakfast, midday meals and other baked goods made in-house. As their name states, the café provides fair trade coffee. Customers can also purchase these whole beans for their own home brews.
But not to worry, there is another location just a few blocks away and directly off of the Roosevelt Art District light rail line.
The Civic Space Park location first opened their doors in 2009. Their motto, “coffee with a conscience,” is the type of beverage most Downtown Phoenix residents, tourists and students are looking for in their cup of joe.
This business is innovative in the way the way it expresses a love for Latinx culture, emerging local artists and vegetarian options that are often difficult to find.
This is not the first time this Fair Trade Café has actually halted their business. The shop closed temporarily from June 1, 2012 to August 5, 2012 due to the lack of customers throughout the summer. At this time, the cafe updated their decor and an ice cream shop, The Sweetness.”
What makes this small business different from others is their dedicated and ongoing support for their community. Last year, 12News reported on Fair Trade Cafe’s new initiative, “Giving Tuesdays.”
This initiative in 2017 allowed “people to come to Fair Trade Café and vote for their favorite nonprofit organization,” 12News said.
“At the end of the day, the votes are tallied and 10 percent of the cafe’s sales go to the most voted for nonprofit.”
‘We really do need to support our local nonprofits,’ Stephanie Vasquez, Fair Trade Café owner said, ‘our nonprofits are really what’s helping our communities.’
For “Giving Tuesdays” customers made a purchase at Fair Trade Café in order to vote for a nonprofit of their choice.
This little coffee shop’s image revolves around celebrating Latinx culture and serving authentic food and fair trade coffee to the Phoenix community, the business itself has been an avid participant in local politics.
Fair Trade Café has had a voice in the news and politics for quite some time now. In 2016, when Arizona’s Proposition 206 was passed, Vasquez, the Fair Trade Café owner and proponent of the measure, supported it.
“To be honest, it’s something that I believe that (regardless) of what side you’re on, we all know that it’s time,” Vasquez told Cronkite News. “So it’s not surprising, it’s exciting.”
Even though the doors of the Civic Space Park location are closed, Fair Trade Café still has a presence in Downtown Phoenix through their location by the light rail.
