Benjamin’s Coffeehouse and Bakeshop is closing after two years of ownership by Andrea Edgar and nearly 30 years in downtown Franklin. The restaurant will host a goodbye event on Friday from 10 a.m. to noon.
Leeann Doerflein | Daily Journal
Downtown Franklin has changed around Benjamin’s since it made its debut in 1995.
The restaurant, at 49 E. Court Street, was the original downtown specialty coffee shop, before the boom began years later.
Benjamin’s has been an old, reliable staple for lunches, breakfasts and afternoon pick-me-ups for downtown dwellers and workers for nearly 30 years. The faces behind the counter have changed and the restaurant layout has changed, but the tradition of the name and its signature dishes have been a comfort to regulars for years.
The later part of the 2010s and 2020s brought a rapid succession of owners to the mainstay. During that period, there were changes to the menu and the restaurant was remodeled. The changes caused some regulars to stop coming, while others became less frequent.
Now the long-time Franklin cafe has closed its doors for the last time, leaving the community reminiscing and looking ahead to what’s next.
What happened?
Current owner Andrea Edgar took over the restaurant two years ago and rebranded it Benjamin’s Coffeehouse and Bakeshop in a bid to return the cafe to its roots. She brought back the original menu after the last version of Benjamin’s, Benjamin’s Scoops and Treasures, chose to specialize in ice cream and coffee.
Despite these efforts, it proved tough to succeed with the sheer volume of places to eat and get a cup of coffee in downtown Franklin and the city at large, Edgar said.
The decision to close wasn’t an easy one and many factors played into it, she said. Those factors included both business reasons and personal ones.
With the winter lull in downtown activity, business had been slower. In eclipse weekend, Edgar saw potential salvation. She took out a loan to make sure the restaurant was prepared to handle what could have been hundreds of customers.
However, the hoped-for business bump didn’t come.
She limited the menu and made over 1,000 cookies. She took the advice of offering eclipse-themed food by offering eclipse sugar cookies, but those lasted long after the eclipse was over. She also brought in more labor to work during eclipse weekend for business that didn’t pan out.
It isn’t fair to say the eclipse was the sole reason Benjamin’s is closing, but it was the final straw, Edgar said.
“It did us in. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Because now I have to pay off that loan. I have to pay all that labor this week. And I had to waste all of that food,” Edgar said. “We had to deal with a flooded coffee market, a slow winter, a dead eclipse, the amp. There’s just too much not in our favor.”
Despite the losses she took for the eclipse, she doesn’t blame Festival Country or the city, as officials were working on advice they received from officials who had experienced the last total eclipse in 2017. Predicting attendance to these types of events is not an exact science.
Edgar loves seeing her regulars and serving the community, but she was facing an uphill climb against a market stacked against Benjamin’s.
“I was gonna fight and stick around and do what I could. But why? At this point, I’m also dealing with some serious health issues. I just needed to throw in the towel,” Edgar said. “If we’re just going to keep bringing in the same stuff and flooding the market some more, I’m not going to keep fighting. In order to survive on this square — and with even more new businesses popping up — you have to have something no one else has.”
Benjamin’s’ struggles also intensified after the amphitheater opened, she said.
Edgar and other business owners have questioned bringing in food trucks that sell the same type of food already offered by downtown businesses. For example, Pearl Coffee Company has been at many festivals and the farmer’s market, despite so many local businesses selling coffee and tea.
Business owners including Edgar have also asked for the festivals to be more spread out, with food trucks and activities in places like at the courthouse and further down the downtown strip at the public parking lot at Jefferson and Hurricane streets. This would help bring more foot traffic toward more local restaurants and shops and help businesses throughout downtown thrive on festival days.
Local reactions
In the wake of Benjamin’s closing, regulars and sometimes customers alike are mourning the loss of the downtown staple.
The Daily Journal asked Facebook followers to share memories and they didn’t disappoint — more than 70 comments were made. Not all were positive, but most were.
Former students from Franklin College shared how they loved taking study breaks with iced coffees and hanging out there after class.
Kids who are now adults spent summers riding their bikes over for an Italian soda, vanilla Coke or cherry Sprite.
Friends gathered for coffee and conversation. Work colleagues bonded over paninis, Ben’s Clubs and Flying Kites.
People compared the atmosphere at Benjamin’s to the “Cheers” bar and the coffee shop from “Friends.”
People said Benjamin’s wasn’t just another restaurant, it was like a community unto itself.
“I was the baker there for a short time about [three] years ago. I quickly learned that Ben’s was not just another small business,” Amber Beadle Luckey commented on Facebook. “The undying loyalty of its customers, the fan-favorite menu items that brought people in from long distances, the friends that knew they could find each other there nearly every day (and got worried when someone wasn’t there), the family traditions. We even had a wedding happen there. Benjamin’s is a legacy.”
The different employees and owners over the years also made their marks on regulars.
“Benjamin’s was like the ‘Cheers’ of coffee shops. So many of the different crews — Ashley and Ben; Kennedy, Evan and Brendan; Andrea, Anna and Maddie — always remembered my usual orders. Heck, Andrea knew when I’d want iced drinks and when I’d want hot,” Michelle Watson commented on Facebook. “So sorry to see it go.”
Benjamin’s employee Anna Boyd is losing her job with the closure, but has made life-long memories working for Edgar, who she said is the best boss she’s ever had.
For the last two years, Boyd watched Edgar try her best to bring Benjamin’s back to its former glory.
“Andrea worked so hard to turn it around. She was the only one who could’ve done it,” Boyd said. “The market was just too tough with all the coffee shops coming in.”
Boyd is the second in her family to work for Benjamin’s, as her grandmother worked for the original owner, Mitzi Christian.
“I’m heartbroken,” she said. “My grandmother worked for Mitzi, so for our family, it hits even harder.”
Abrupt closure
Edgar had been hoping to be open this week, but the person she had been leasing equipment from unexpectedly came to take it last weekend.
That set off a scramble to give away food she had been expecting to sell this week. About a truckload of food went to local food pantries and the Franklin Elks Lodge, she said.
Edgar, Boyd and volunteers have been cleaning up and clearing out the space for the next tenant this week. By Tuesday, the restaurant space was largely empty. The tables and chairs were stacked. The bakery case was empty. The counter was a blank slate aside from the dormant cash register and soft drink machine.
To say last goodbyes, Edgar is welcoming customers and friends to the restaurant on Friday from 10 a.m. to noon. She can’t serve food or drinks but she wanted to offer this time to say goodbye to those who have supported her and the Benjamin’s brand.
Edgar retains the name of Benjamin’s, with hopes to revive the brand again someday.
The space won’t be empty long, as the owners of Hill Billy Hot Dogs food truck have announced they will open a restaurant at the location. The food truck offering specialty hot dogs and other portable food such as chicken tenders, sandwiches and taco salad has been a staple at festivals around Johnson County since 2017.
There’s no official open date for the new restaurant yet, but Hill Billy Hot Dogs will start moving in after May 1, with hopes to open later in the month.
IF YOU GO
Benjamin’s goodbye event
What: Friends, customers, former employees and owners are all invited to say goodbye to Benjamin’s one last time.
When: Friday, 10 a.m. to noon
Where: Benjamin’s, 49 E. Court St., Franklin
