08/26/2026
This Isn't Goodbye… It's Just a New Chapter
To my Urban Fuel family,
I told myself I'd keep this to a couple of paragraphs. That was a lie. I'm not even sorry.
When I opened Urban Fuel, I wanted a place with great coffee and food. What I got was so much bigger — you turned it into a community. You brought your babies in and I watched them grow up. You celebrated birthdays, engagements, weddings and new jobs at our tables. You showed up on your good days and, just as often, the days that weren't so good. You let us be a small part of your lives, and I don't think I'll ever fully be able to tell you what that meant.
To everyone who's ever worn an Urban Fuel apron. Thank you. Some of you were here for a season, some for years, some became more like family than staff. You survived a hundred chaotic Saturdays with me and somehow kept coming back. I watched a lot of you grow up too, starting here as kids and leaving as adults with careers and families of your own. A piece of what we built belongs to you.
And to my family and friends, there aren't really words big enough for this part. Owning a small business asks a lot of the owner, and honestly just as much of the people who love them. For over a decade, you shared me with a coffee shop. There were holidays and plans and ordinary nights I missed because "I have to work." You never once made me feel guilty for it; you just kept showing up and believing in this slightly ridiculous dream right alongside me. I know there were sacrifices I never even saw, and I'm grateful for every one of them. I'm looking forward to being around for the boring stuff now. Turns out that's the good stuff.
So here's the part that still feels strange to type: I've made the decision to step away as owner of Urban Fuel.
Not because I fell out of love with this place — quite the opposite. It's exactly because I love it that who came next mattered so much. I needed someone who understood Urban Fuel isn't just an espresso machine and a menu, it's a heart. Good news, many of you already know him. Calib's been part of this place for years and already gets it: the customers, the chaos, the community. He'll tell you more himself, but handing this off to someone who's already part of its story makes it a lot easier.
So, thank you. For every cup of coffee, every brunch, every celebration, every friend you sent our way. Thank you for choosing a small, slightly chaotic, locally-owned business when you had a hundred easier options. Thank you for learning my staff's names and becoming the faces we genuinely looked forward to seeing. Thank you for letting Urban Fuel become part of your regular routine and your biggest milestones alike.
I'm not disappearing. I'm just finally going to sit on the other side of the counter and let someone else make my coffee for a change.
This isn't goodbye. It's just the end of one really good chapter, and the start of another.
With all my love and gratitude,
Terri
Urban Fuel Coffee Station
A quick note before I go:
My last official day as owner will be this Saturday, August 29th. I'll be at Urban Fuel all week, Wednesday through Saturday, so please stop in to say goodbye and say hello to Calib.
If you're holding a gift card purchased before my last day, please use it soon. I will personally honor all of those gift cards through September 30th, so please don't let any existing balance go unused. Calib will be introducing his own new gift cards within the next week or so.