Qualia was located at 3917 Georgia Avenue NW

by Maya Gold

On March 18th, Qualia Coffee officially closed its Petworth doors after nearly 14 years at the Georgia Avenue location. The coffee shop had originally temporarily closed the location, operating out of the neighboring Commonwealth Cantina as a pop-up. However, the company announced that it would not be following through with the previously scheduled renovations, instead electing to shut down the location fore good.

As for why, the owner Joel Finkelstein has a pretty simple answer.

“I’m not an entrepreneur — I’m not a good business person. I’ve always made decisions based on how good a coffee I can make,” Finkelstein explained. “I understand that about myself: I’m not motivated by the money part, so I don’t make decisions based on that. I’ve compensated by investing my time in it. I’m getting too old to continue working 10-12 hours every day. Something had to give.”

However, he did note that there were some major impediments that also contributed to the closing of the shop. “Frankly, I had a business model that was premised on the idea that the coffee shops weren’t necessarily profitable but that we could grow through other venues or other ways of selling coffee,” Finkelstein said. “My focus was on trying to expand through local farmers’ markets. Unfortunately, I hate to say it, but FRESHFARM just really screwed us. They would not let any small-listers join the farmers’ markets, and they have made it very difficult to try and grow through that original plan.”

FRESHFARM is a nonprofit that runs nearly 30 farmers’ markets in the DMV area, including Petworth Farmers’ Market, the 14th Street and Kennedy market, Columbia Heights, Silver Spring and others.. Their website notes that they are the third-largest farmers’ market organization in the country.

When asked to comment, Juliet Glass, Director of Communications and Marketing at FRESHFARM, offered the following explanation: “FRESHFARM did extend an invitation to Qualia Coffee to return to the markets they participated in during the 2022 season: Arlington Courthouse and Columbia Heights, which are our 3rd and 5th-highest grossing markets, respectively. Our understanding is that Qualia was seeking admission to more markets in order to make their business model work. FRESHFARM is dedicated to supporting small business owners, and we are sympathetic to the incredible challenges faced by this community. We also acknowledge that participation in our markets is a significant platform for farmers/producers which is why we take our application process so seriously and strive for equity in the process. In balancing our commitments to existing farmers/producers and seeking to provide opportunities to new businesses, we are pleased to invite three new coffee roasters to our network for the 2023 main season.”

Bags of coffee on sale at Commonwealth Cantina on Georgia Avenue

While Qualia is closing its brick-and-mortar location in Petworth, it is certainly not closing for good – there are several different ways you can continue to get this local and sustainable coffee. Qualia will still be supplying Commonwealth Cantina, with plans to bring cold brew to the restaurant. Its Eckington location will also remain open and will deliver via DoorDash and UberEats. Patrons can also order coffee via mail order on Qualia’s website–Qualia works with local delivery company Near to allow same day delivery. While Qualia will be at “a bunch” of farmers’ markets, those will be a bit of a drive–Finkelstein is looking at markets outside of the DMV, where FRESHFARM is not active.

If you want to keep up with Qualia, you can join their mailing list, or visit the Qualia website.