East Austin coffee shop announces end-of-year permanent closure after 17 years

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A long-standing east Austin coffee shop announced its impending closure on Friday.

Thunderbird Coffee, which has sat at 2200 Manor Road since 2006, announced on its Instagram page the shop would be permanently closing by Dec. 17.

"We love you and are so grateful for the past 17 years together," the post read. "The exact day of closure will be determined by our team and how long each person can or wants to stay on. Our top priority is giving them time to find good replacement jobs. ❤️????❤️????"

The shop's hours will shorten to 7 a.m. - 2 p.m. starting on Monday. The hours are currently 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.

A video posted along with the announcement cited issues related to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's been a really difficult decision to come to, but I guess in essence, we've never really bounced back from the pandemic," the video said in part. "It's gotten to a point where we're not convinced we can offer good jobs to people or continue to be here sustainably. So we're gonna close the doors, but we want to do it as gracefully as possible."

The video continued and said Thunderbird wants to ensure its staff can find new jobs and customers can visit before the shop closes permanently.