At 3:03 Monday afternoon, Will Borell placed a sign taped to a cardboard box on the counter of Deja Brew, a local coffee shop.
"We're closed. We'll be back at 7 a.m.," the notice read.
Before Saturday, Deja Brew was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but this week the shop was open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Friday at 3 p.m. the coffee house will close for the last time, and renovation will begin over the weekend to prepare for the store's reincarnation as YogaBerry, a Jacksonville-based frozen yogurt company.
For four years, Deja Brew shared space with Target Copy, Boss Hardt Realty and Firehouse Subs on University.
It was not unusual to find the building packed during midterms and finals, with customers spilling onto the benches and tables outside.
Completion of YogaBerry is set for mid-September, according to Jennifer Ford, the Target Copy manager who created the concept of Deja Brew.
"The clientele just wasn't there to keep the place running," Ford said of Deja Brew. "I'm heartbroken, but it's business."
Mark Turner, co-owner of YogaBerry, describes the new store in terms of layering as opposed to replacement.
"We'll be keeping their line of coffee, but just kicking it up a notch," he said. Déjà Brew currently serves Boomerang and Sweetwater, both locally roasted coffees.
Yogaberry will offer several flavors of sour frozen yogurt, including original and green tea, paired with fruit, including mango, pineapple and blueberry.
The Gainesville store will purchase in-season fruit from Rainbow Fruit Company, a local fruit distributor, Turner said.
However, the stores hours will change to closing up shop at 2 a.m. with a possibility of extending hours in the future, Turner said.
"That'll be determined by how late students are looking for frozen yogurt," he said.
Turner believes that a major audience for YogaBerry is college students.
The company has stores open adjacent to the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee and University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
Matthew Daley has worked at Library West since 2001 and has been making the three minute walk, five if he misses the light, to Déjà Brew since it opened, sometimes several visits a day.
"They've created a very welcoming atmosphere. Hopefully [YogaBerry] will keep that," Daley said, indicating skepticism.
He said he remains open to the change and will still give the new vendor a try before making his final decision.
