Health problems forced him to close his Wichita cafe. Now, he’s offering it for a song.
Unless they inherit a coffee shop from a relative, aspiring cafe owners in Wichita won’t find a better deal than the one Wichita businessman Perry Warden is offering, he says.
A turnkey cafe — expensive coffee equipment and furniture included — for $25,000.
“Whoever wants to step in and do this,” he said, “this is about as good as it gets.”
About a year ago, Warden opened a small nonprofit coffee shop called Carpe Diem Cafe at 8643 W. Central, in a little strip center behind the Intrust Bank building at Central and Tyler. A former special education teacher, Perry was inspired to open the business as a way to provide jobs for people with special needs, who he said often had trouble finding employment even though they had the ability to work.
And he did: In April of last year, Warden and his wife, Cynthia, opened the cafe and earned a strong following, not only from the surrounding Westlink neighborhood but also from students at nearby Bishop Carroll High School. The couple also was able to hire around eight part-time special needs employees.
Then, Perry started having health problems. He had three surgeries within the span of six months, and over the summer, he suffered a “mini stroke,” he said. He’s been able to recover, but his doctors told him that if he didn’t want to risk a major stroke, he’d need to eliminate stress from his life.
“They said, ‘You’ve got to give up something,’” he said. “And the thing that I loved the most was what was giving me the most stress.”
The Wardens closed Carpe Diem Cafe in the fall, and it’s been sitting vacant. They’ve had offers on their equipment — including on an espresso machine that Perry said is worth nearly the price he’s asking for the whole cafe — but he doesn’t want to sell the business off piecemeal.
“I don’t want to just get rid of it,” he said. “I want someone to take it over.... I want to sell the opportunity for someone to be able to do a few maintenance items, maybe a little painting, and then they would have their business with very minimal startup.”
The business, where the Wardens sold coffee, ice cream and a few food items, is set up in 1,500 square feet and has a seating capacity of 53. The deal also would include all of their equipment, which Perry says is worth at least $100,000, plus the decor, which includes antique coffee cans and coffee grinders he’d collected. The cafe also now has a comfortable deck that Perry built and that the neighborhood loved.
He’d even let the new owner keep the name if they wanted it, he said. And of course, they could run the business how they saw fit. He wouldn’t ask them to use the same model he did.
“I just want to give somebody an opportunity,” he said. “We didn’t build it to make money. I never took a penny out of there. I just wanted to give the kids an opportunity.”
Anyone interested in possibly taking over the cafe should contact Perry either by messaging the Carpe Diem Cafe Facebook page or by emailing cafe@carpediemwichita.com
This story was originally published March 6, 2024 at 11:15 AM.
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