London’s Emerging Coffee Hub Loses One of Its Early Adopters

London speciality coffee shop Curators Coffee Gallery has closed after five years on Margaret Street, in Fitzrovia. An announcement posted on Instagram today after an unexpected weekend closure said:

Dear Customers and Friends, It is with extremely heavy hearts that we announce that Curators Coffee Gallery will be closing its doors for the final time this Friday 22nd March at 4.30pm.

We’ve made a lot of coffee here over the past five years (we expected that) but we didn’t expect to make so many wonderful friends. Curators Gallery has been our home, but it’s also been a home to our regulars, to serious business meetings, to reunions with friends, to baby-dates, to hard-working freelancers, and to the odd late night gathering too. We’re going to miss you all.

A number of factors have contributed to our decision, not the least the tough UK retail environment, but needless to say, it’s been a difficult decision to make.

The brand was established with Curators Coffee Studio in the City, which opened in 2012. Run by Catherine Seay, who previously worked at Fitzrovia’s outstanding (even earlier) adopter Kaffeine. It then partnered with Paced — investors who also worked with Colonna Coffee, London’s Best Coffee, and, briefly, Dandy. The latter partnership ended in November 2017 with Paced taking over the Newington Green cafe that was formerly Dandy. It closed a few months later.

Fitzrovia has emerged as a nexus of the London coffee scene’s increasing breadth, with earlier adopters like Kaffeine, Workshop, and Curators ceding some market space, if not share, to newer speciality brands and international arrivals. Coffee Works Project and Alex Coffee opened in the area mid-2018, while cult-followed Japanese shop Omotesando Koffee, Saudi Arabia’s Jolt, specialising in sweet, interestingly flavoured drinks, and Instagram-grabbing Elan have all opened in the area in the last six months.