Coffee Society Sale Finalized

owner Jackie Streeter officially sold the popular business at the Cupertino Library this week, after an that left her simmering when the Cupertino City Council rejected, then accepted, a lease agreement.

Streeter, who left the technology world several years ago to start the coffee shop franchise, is now returning to tech. The one-time Apple employee said she is in talks to join a Palo Alto start-up company part time.

“I feel great; I think every small business owner’s dream is to sell their business they’ve worked so hard on,” Streeter said just a day after she signed over the business she built to first-time shop owner Jeesung Lee, who is leaving a job as an accountant.

On Thursday Streeter was still greeting customers while showing Lee the ropes, carefully instructing the new owner on how to make coffee drinks and smoothies.

The 500-square-foot coffee shop has been a popular neighborhood spot, with numerous loyal customers who have gotten to know Streeter and her family over the years. Streeter said regulars have been coming in all week to wish her well.

Back in January, Streeter found the business she built at the center of a debate when the council rejected a staff-recommended lease with her company, Streeter and Sons. Three members of the council questioned the original bidding process, asking whether one potential bidder had been improperly excluded.

After Streeter hired an attorney and threatened to sue, to Streeter and Sons. Streeter rejected the original lease offer, however, and her attorney negotiated new terms.

The lease specifies $1,000-a-month rent for one year, with increases of $50 a year for two more years. that as long as the new owner operates under the same name and offers the same fare, the lease will remain in effect.

If she is bitter about the experience, Streeter wasn’t showing it, instead speaking in upbeat terms about the transition and how positive she thinks it will be for the city. She said she really likes Lee and is convinced customers will also come to love her.

Streeter said she plans to help Lee during the transition and expects to still see customers on a regular basis. In the meantime, she said she is in talks to join Lark.com to help with business and product development. The company sells a patent-pending wrist device that works with the iPhone and iPod Touch to silently wake the user in the morning, as well as monitor sleep patterns and improve sleep performance.

Lee told Patch she is excited to leave behind working with numbers to work directly with people. Lee was in her 20s when she came by herself from Korea in 2005 to work in the accounting and finance field. Originally, she told herself she would work 10 years as an accountant, but she recently started looking for new opportunities.

“I wanted to do something totally new,” she said. Last month she saw a Craigslist post advertising the Coffee Society sale, and she decided to take a chance.

She’s gone from numbers to lattes, but she said she is excited to be taking on the challenge.

“It’s like I’m dreaming still,” she said, grinning.

Lee has plans to nurture what she calls a "café culture" at the small shop, to encourage patrons to spend time enjoying beverages, reading and working. She wants to add a bookshelf filled with positive, uplifting books, and a blackboard where customers can leave encouraging quotes and comments.

Long-time customer Terry Wilson, who was in on Thursday afternoon for his second time that day, said he will miss Streeter and the close atmosphere she engendered among regular customers.

“We had our own little group,” he said of the spontaneous gatherings that regularly took place.

Wilson said he will still come in, because of the convenience and because it’s a relaxing place to sit and talk with people, although, “it’s going to be different.”