Six Mile Coffee was a hub of activity at 7 p.m. on June 30 as customers formed lines at the counter or filled chairs – their eyes intent on computer screens or each other.
The front door maintained a steady rhythm of musicians going in and out as they made their way to the coffee shop's basement for its popular weekly open mic night.
But many gathered with heavy hearts as the business it closed for good at the end of the night.
"It was my dream to own a coffee shop and we thought we had everything lined up well," said owner Chris Sikora, who opened the shop just eight months ago at 609 Frederick Road.
"We had a good product. We had a great location. We had great staff," he said. "And just to see it all not work out, it's heartbreaking basically."
Sikora said he still believes the steady stream of morning commuters on Frederick Road and the number of residents who live in area made the former Chesapeake Bank building a great location.
But he said not enough passerby stopped in at the coffee shop.
With the 100 to 120 people visiting daily far less than the 200 he hoped for, Sikora said the business generated only half of its projected sales revenue.
"We just couldn't go on any more," said Sikora, who has struggled to pay employees and cover expenses such as the rent for the building.
"We pretty much ran out of money," he said.
Sikora said last winter's inclement weather made it tougher as the weather kept customers from venturing out..
Business picked up by 30 percent from March to April, but gains have been modest after that, he said.
"If money hadn't run out, we would still be able to build up our business," said Sikora. "If I could have lasted another three to four months, I think we would have gotten there."
As they visited the coffee shop for the last time Thursday night, Sikora's customers shared his disappointment.
"I'm really sad this place is closing," said Gino Abellanosa, 14, a rising sophomore at Catonsville High School.
Abellanosa, who sings and plays piano and guitar, has been a regular at the coffee shop's open mic since he shyly played his first one May 5.
"It just seems like it was cut off in its prime," he said. "This is such a great place. They have great food and great chai tea.
"I love this place to bits and I'm just disappointed to see it go away."
Arbutus resident Michelle Dwyer, who lives at Lemon Meringue Thrift and Gift shop on East Drive and works at the downtown Catonsville business Objects Found, regularly stopped by the shop to work on her computer or to perform.
"I've been coming every Thursday for a little over a month," said Dwyer, who sings and plays banjo. "And I was planning on coming every Thursday all summer long."
She said she thought competition in the area would be stiff – with Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's franchises only a short walk away and local businesses like Atwater's Naturally Leavened bread also offering coffee.
But she thought the coffee shop, with its music orientation and weekly open mic nights, filled a need in downtown Catonsville.
"Catonsville is supposed to be 'Music City, Maryland," she said.
"It's nice that you could drink coffee and relax up here," she said on the main floor of the building. "And if you want to, go downstairs and listen to music. So everyone was planning on coming and now it's like, well, today was the last one.
"And it was just so fast," she said sadly.
Chicago residents Katelyn Cohen and Brynn Mawr stopped by the open mic during the national tour of their folk duo, Brynn Mawr.
Cohen, who graduated from Catonsville High School in 2005 and grew up in the area, said she was sad when she found out.
"It's always sad when a local place closes," she said, admitting she would grieve less if it had been a chain store like Starbucks.
"I had only been in here once, but I planned on coming back," she said. "And especially when I heard it had an open mic, I made a mental note to come when I was in town again."
Luke Kim, a senior at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, visited the coffee shop for the first time on June 30 after learning about it while researching online a couple days earlier.
Kim said he was looking for a coffee shop with live music and an open mic.
"It's really hard to find around this area," he said. "I was glad to find this place and I need to look for another place now."
Kim said he was "bummed out" and "disappointed" when he heard the news.
"Hopefully, there will be another place like this (that) will open sometime soon," he said.
Sikora said he remains hopeful that someone might want to take over the business.
"If someone has time, capital, and wants to work it themselves versus hiring people, I think there's definitely a chance of this working out," he said.
In the meantime, Sikora said he will focus on his other business, Sweet, a bakery specializing in wedding cakes and other treats, that he recently moved from Ellicott City to the Mount Vernon area of Baltimore City.