“Sales have been dropping year after year,” he said, estimating the drop at about 40 percent recently. Robert Rosenstein, a Temecula attorney representing Sweet Bean’s corporate owners, said the new products weren’t enough to push the shop into the black. To help boost receipts during the lunch hours, the store started selling sandwiches with Boar’s Headmeats. In addition to the mochas and its coffee drinks, the shop sold tea and an array of sundaes and other treats. Jana Sawyer, a Temecula resident of 13 years and a fellow ice-blended mocha fan, said the employees at the shop were so familiar they seemed like one big family. One of those visitors, Cathy Bowlin, showed off the book her husband made her for their 25th anniversary, a custom tome of shared memories that contained a whole page devoted to her love of Sweet Bean.īased on her husband’s calculations, Bowlin spent more than $13,000 on ice-blended mochas during her patronage of the shop. News of the shop’s pending closure and the gathering for customers had been posted at the Sweet Bean, so some of the visitors on Thursday came prepared with mementos and tokens of their appreciation: presents and a “thank you” cake. One of the moms, Judy Sachs of Temecula, said members of the group would celebrate each other’s birthdays and holidays together on the patio. “This is where they come,” he said, adding that the debate about Granite Construction’s Liberty Quarry projectwas a frequent topic of conversation in recent years.
There also was a group that made stopping at Sweet Bean part of its morning routine, its members reading the paper and enjoying a cup of coffee to start their day.
Lopez said the shop, which opened in the early 1990s, served as a meeting place for residents who live nearby and for moms, who would gather with their children for impromptu play dates on the patio. Children, as they have been wont to do over the years, played on the patio in front.
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