ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Theo's Java Club is changing owners after 27 years in business.
The Rock Island coffee shop saw the retirement of its infamous "Theo" on Wednesday, Oct. 6.
When the doors were finally closed and the neon "open" sign was turned off 8 p.m. Wednesday at 213 17th St., Theo Grevas officially ended his nearly three-decade chapter at the coffee shop for good.
Grevas announced in July he was retiring from the coffee business to spend more time with family and said he planned to sell Theo's.
Barista Myah Ackerland, a 22-year-old who's been a customer herself for nearly 10 years, started a campaign to purchase Theo's with help from GoFundMe donations. Although Ackerland was ultimately unsuccessful in purchasing the business, she gained public support for her efforts.
"It's not one person's," she said of Theo's. "It's the community's, and it always has been. I know it has Theo's name on it now, but it's everyone's. It's the community's, it's Rock Islands', it's the Quad Cities'."
The retiring owner's last day was filled with the familiar faces of café regulars that stopped by to purchase a cup of joe and exchange nearly 3 decades worth of memories.
"A lot of people come in and tell us great stories about what (the café) meant to them," Grevas said. "And it's been humbling."
Grevas' time managing the café is over, but he said a new owner has verbally agreed to buy the place. The café could reopen again sometime this fall, and new memories might be made there soon.