Borderlands Cafe at Sci-Fi Bookstore Closing on Valencia

Borderlands Cafe, the popular coffee shop and gathering spot attached to long-running science fiction and fantasy-focused bookstore Borderlands Books, is closing tomorrow, Tuesday April 30. Alan Beatts, the bookstore and cafe’s owner, will continue to run the book selling component of his business, Mission Local reports, but he’s preparing to move it to a new location he purchased in the Upper Haight. That move is expected to occur later this year.

While the closure of Borderlands Cafe is sad news for Valencia Street coffee drinkers seeking a tranquil spot to read their new genre fiction purchase, it’s not the saddest outcome for Beatts. In 2015, the owner announced he would close Borderlands Books and Cafe outright, but an influx of nearly $2 million in fundraising let him purchase the new Upper Haight location.

Now, with cafe sales slumping but his bookstore’s future secured, Beatts has accepted a buyout from his landlord (his lease ran through 2025). The timing is fortuitous, too: He’s getting out ahead of a necessary seismic retrofit that would likely close his cafe for months. That process has lead to closures across the city and around the neighborhood: Nearby, businesses like Esperpento, Radio Habana Social Club, and Bi-Rite Creamery have been closed for such retrofits.

• After 10 years, Valencia Street’s Borderlands Cafe to shutter [Mission Local]
• Borderlands Books sets sights on a fall opening in Upper Haight [Hoodline]
• Weekend booking: Borderlands Books open house [SF Chronicle]