bassanocheesecake/Facebook
On Jan. 26, Tom and Cindy Bassano of Bassano Cheescake took to Facebook to announce the eventual relocation from their flagship cafe at 507 Main St. in downtown Safety Harbor.
When the married couple recently approached their landlord about renewing their lease, they were informed that the rent would be raised by about 50% due to increasing costs of insurance and property taxes. The Bassanos currently pay about $26 per square-foot and the lease’s new rate would be roughly $40-50 per square-foot.
Knowing that they could never swing rent that high—especially after dealing with inflation surrounding ingredient prices and costs of labor—the Bassanos have started the process of finding another headquarters for their breakfast and cheesecake spot.
Tom and Cindy’s daughter Paige, who worked as a manager at Bassano Cheescake, has already started to look for employment elsewhere.
Tom Bassano—also known as the Safety Harbor Grinch— tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the lease technically ends in June of 2025, but that he and Cindy have already started the process of finding another cafe space in northern Pinellas County, preferably Safety Harbor.
"We’ve gotten offers for other places around town, but we don’t really have the money to start all over again,” he says. “So we’re looking into a bunch of different options like food trucks or trailers, but we really do want to provide a space for breakfast service.”
He says the ideal location for Bassano Cheescake’s cafe is at least 1,200 square-feet with room for at least a few tables for dine-in guests. They will continue making bulk cheesecakes at their production space in Oldsmar, where rent has not increased.
Bassano Cheesecake signed its 5-year lease mere months before the Covid-19 pandemic shut businesses down temporarily, and has spent the last four years building up its loyal clientele base.
Bassano says that a majority of his regular customers are elderly folks who live within walking distance of his cheesecake shop.
“With a cheesecake place, you think people are only coming in like once a month, but because of our early breakfast and coffee service, some regulars come in almost every day, especially the folks in the neighborhood,” Bassano adds.
Tom and Cindy had no plans to vilify their landlord by making Facebook posts about the rent increase, but instead wanted to warn their customer base about the future changes happening to their business in the next year.
Despite having no plans to close, Bassano says that they will be in “quite a bad situation” if a new lease isn’t secured soon.
“It’s sad to see all of these mom and pop shops being forced out due to high rent; I love our customers and I love what we do," Bassano explains. “With all of this inflation going on, it’s difficult to stay in business without raising your price to the point that only the elite can come in and eat cheesecake.”
For the latest news on Bassano Cheesecake and its eventual relocation, head to @bassanocheesecake where Tom and Cindy post updates weekly.
Bassano Cheesecake is still open at its current location—and will be for the next several months—from 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday and is closed on Monday.
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