Jed Arkley and Tonya Langford, proprietors of the popular White Electric Coffee shop in Providence, had hoped to enjoy a lengthy tenure at their location on Broadway, an idiosyncratic building that formerly housed an electrical business and a motor repair shop. But after relations deteriorated between the proprietors and Maria Bernal, an East Sider who bought the coffee shop structure and a neighboring historic house, White Electric is facing a February 1 deadline for leaving the premises.

Langford and Arkley opened White Electric in September 2000 and it quickly developed a strong following, becoming an important part of the burgeoning West Side arts scene, in large part of the couple's community-minded spirit. They host music and film shows, donate coffee for nonprofit events, take pride in offering good wages and benefits to employees, and helped to start Urban Greens, a wholesale food-buying club. By the time last spring when Bernal bought the property, however, they didn't have a lease.

The level of dialogue between the tenants and their new landlord seems to have quickly taken a turn for a worse. Arkley and Langford say Bernal initially indicated her willingness for White Electric to stay on. But Bernal, who paid $325,000 for the two structures, including the Oliver Johnson House (1840), the oldest house on Broadway, says she wanted people to collaborate with her plans for a bed-and-breakfast. "He [Arkley] informed me they weren't there to help me supplement the mortgage and that I had paid way too much," she says.

White Electric had previously been paying monthly rent of $650, which its proprietors describe as typical for the neighborhood. Even though it would represent a dramatic increase, the proprietors say, they were willing to pursue a long-term lease at $1000 a month because of the investment and energy they have made in the business. But Bernal, who says she had to hike the rent because of mortgage and insurance costs, was unwilling to extend a long-term lease. She did extend a six-month lease, however, at $850 a month, through February 1.

Bernal says the previous property owners, who are friendly with Arkley, "would not extend him a lease, so I don't think it's my responsibility." Asked about the loss of a popular business with strong community values, she says, "I feel bad about that and I've offered other suggestions to them as far as ways that this could be resolved. [But] I don't feel it's my responsibility to write their business plan." She adds, "I feel bad that the community has chosen to make me the pariah, where the people who sold the building to me are who benefited."

Langford and Arkley, who live on the West Side, say Bernal's vision was sharply at odds with their own and that they're being forced to leave before they'll be able to recoup their initial investment. Customers have been very supportive, they say, but there's relatively little commercial space on Broadway, a search for new locations has yet to turn up good prospects, and the couple worries about running out of the lucky breaks that can be crucial for the success of a small business. Although unsure whether the situation is isolated or a harbinger of creeping gentrification on the West Side, the couple is certain about one thing. "It's scary," says Langford.

Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis[a]phx.com.

Issue Date: August 23 - 29, 2002