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Is Arcata's Hottest Coffeeshop closed for good? Northtown sings the Blues
by Nicholas Pablo

March 9, 2010

Those who might have tried to go to Muddy's Hot Cup at 1603 North G Street might be in for a surprise. At first, it appeared that Muddy's was on a winter doldrums vacation holiday like most of the other northtown businesses love to take. Late into January it was still not open. A phonecall to investigate future hours of operation received a disconnection notice for the number at that time. We had word from sources close to the business operations that all of the employees were fired just before the holiday break hit and it seemed evident that the coffeeshop was closed for good.

Then in mid January it reopened. I talked to the worker at that time and he said he had driven all the way from Florida to here to man the store. I didn't think to ask if it was Corey himself. Anyway, there was a sign on the counter at that time talking about selling the building. And now, after a short month and a couple days of reopening - it is closed for good. Many may ask "How can the hottest coffee shop in town close?" It appears that many northtown businesses are on the rocks.

It was only a little over 2 years ago that Muddy's Hot Cup, formerly Muddy Waters, was one of the most thriving venues in town. That all came to a quick halt when a local resident with deep connections started rattling some sabers. Muddy's was told to halt all evening music performances with no exceptions. Since that time muddy's has continued to dominate the local coffee scene but we believe any inspiration for the owner to keep it going was lost at that time into Arcata's classic bureaucratic red tape.

The owner, puppeteer Corey Stevens, is rumored to have left the area entirely in 2009 and moved to an undisclosed condition in Florida. Perhaps he decided to move to a place where live entertainment isn't frowned upon so heavily. Surely it's not because the coffee could possibly be any better down there in the panhandle. This is not the first occasion where a highly frequented coffeehouse has shut down in the middle of what appeared to be successful operations. Three years ago, Sacred Grounds closed it's doors for good without as much as a whimper. Those who travel to the Safeway shopping center can still see this once bustling building sitting empty on rumors of a Starbucks and various other enterprises.

This purported closure may just be another sign of the times. We think, however, that it is actually very savvy business prowess. It looks to us like Northtown is headed for interesting times for a number of reasons. Muddy's clearly isn't the only business in Northtown that is having trouble. Those who have visited Hutchin's Market anytime recently will realize that the store is just a shell of it's former glory. And the outrageous pricing and empty shelves surely will not allow for it to be rescued anytime soon. The new Blondie's in the old East Side Deli is the most likely culprit for that demise. That and rumors of illegal dvd rentals that went awry. Lastly, with the passage of the new anti-homeless laws, Northtown is poised to become the next skid row.

Even worse, sources close to businesses in the area confirm that other famed northtown businesses are also heavily in debt and teetering. Perhaps the rumors of bad cannabis crop prices down south are beginning to show some fractures in Humboldt's black economy. This may only be a small inkling of the dramatic shifts to come if Arcata and Humboldt County doesn't begin to seriously prepare for the legalization of marijuana. It seems the widespread growth of dispensaries in LA County, Sacramento and the San Francisco area are already exposing these fractures beginning with the weaker businesses that dominate Northtown.

Apart from these high-level economics, the new HSU dorms that are coming online in the late summer and fall of 2010 will bring a major shift to the entire face of Northtown. Anybody who has climbed the HSU hill on LK Wood will have learned to avoid it at all costs. It's hard to estimate what the new traffic patterns will come to look like with the location of the new dorms. The College Creek Apartments are designed to hold about 500 students. This amounts to a significant shift in the location of HSU's dorm population. The opening of these dorms may very likely dramatically shift student traffic patterns toward 14th and south on G street toward the Arcata Plaza. A shift of this nature will clearly have effects on the businesses in all of Northtown that now rely heavily on student traffic. The only question is in what way.

We believe this closure could be just a foreshadowing of whats to come. It does seem a shame that such a popular coffeehouse could really be gone for good. And it doesn't leave too many other options for those wanting to hang out casually and enjoy coffee - let alone the wifi internet access that drove many to the popular locale and to northtown in general. The building vacancy does leave an opportunity for a new business to fill in the slot. We would love to see an amsterdam style cannabis coffeehouse filling in the void to youthful cheers and good-old-boy jeers.  Only time will tell if this new empty building becomes just a another rock store selling very expensive rocks to a very few customers or if something useful will actually take its place. For us, it's hard to imagine anyone sinking investments into the uncertain future of northtown with its clear case of 2010 blues.