Cafe Mary Grace flagship in Greenbelt 2 closes permanently
Mary Grace in Greenbelt 2 has closed its doors permanently.
After news that Greenbelt 1, the oldest section of the Ayala shopping mall in Makati, will be torn down by the first semester of 2024, the flagship store of the beloved homegrown Filipino cafe has already closed, its owner revealed.
On Facebook, Adrian Dimacali turned emotional as he reminisced about Mary Grace's flagship store for 12 years.
"Mary Grace Cafe in Greenbelt 2 was our flagship store for 12 years. It opened in May 2011 and was our first large format space," he started.
He continued: "It was my younger brother Gabby who believed in and fought for signing this space. I told him it was too big and that we should stick to small, efficient spaces. I told him if the esteemed Gaita (Margarita Fores) didn’t want that space anymore, why should we?"
"As it turns out, with a little patience and a lot of faith Greenbelt 2 became our strongest branch. Even as we opened new Cafes that were bigger and more eye-catching, this grand old dame would come out on top year after year."
As the entire mall undergoes redevelopment (which already started on Jan. 2 of this year), Dimacali and his siblings have decided to permanently close their Greenbelt 2 branch.
Dimacali added that the logo, signage, equipment, furniture, fixtures, and decors such as toys, books, spiritual objects, hanging lamps, and mechanical birds will have their new home in other cafes.
"Only a shell remains now. And even that will be gone soon," he said.
In a quick chat with PhilSTAR L!fe, Dimacali added that at that time, they were looking for a large space to accommodate large parties and families.
"[Greenbelt 2] really defined our brand to become what it is today—that it's not just a coffee shop, it's not just a cafe, but a place for families to really spend their time, whether it's breakfast or coffee lang, dinner or even celebrations like baby shower, engagement, kahit wedding actually," he said.
"It's hard for me to see that cafe close because marami kaming natutunan from that cafe," he said.
"GB was our gold standard and she made us see what was possible. She was an academy and a proving ground for our managers today. She gave us wings to fly. She pushed us to dream big. She made us believe. Now she is gone, and things will never be the same, at least not for me," Dimacali added in his post.
Dimacali noted that they will be opening a much smaller branch on the second floor of Greenbelt 5 by March.
Mary Grace is a family-owned cafe that started as a home-based baking business in 1983. It now has over 70 cafes and 68 kiosks nationwide.