Manayunk’s Mugshots Coffeehouse has closed

The coffee staple on Cotton Street officially closed its doors this weekend right before Hurricane Irene hit the Philadelphia area.

After five years in Manayunk, Mugshots Coffeeshop and Cafe will be relocating to the lobby of a student dorm at 1520 Cecil B. Moore Avenue on Temple University’s campus.

“Our [Manayunk] location was just a challenge in a lot of ways,” said Mugshots owner Angie Vendetti. “Being off of Main Street, we didn’t get the benefit of the walking traffic.”

While Vendetti calls the move “disheartening,” she adds that in the end, it all comes down to the sustainability of the business.

“It just wasn’t profitable; Manayunk never showed a profit enough to be able to pay our people more,” she said. “Manayunk would not have been open if I wasn’t making a living from the Fairmount location.”

This past Sunday was scheduled to be the shop’s last day in Manayunk, but the expected flooding and bad weather prompted staff to close the shop on Saturday. Luckily, the shop avoided any major flooding damage from the storm.

For the past few days, employees have been packing up equipment and cleaning up the Manayunk location in order to start moving over to their new spot at Temple.

“I’m really grateful we’ve had so many great regular and loyal customers and I wish things were a little different,” Vendetti said. “I think if we were in a better location we would have been able to stay and do well.”

Mugshots will continue operations in Fairmount and Brewerytown, and will open on Temple’s campus in the next few weeks.