A community-centered ice cream shop and cafe in San Mateo has been dealt a string of bad luck so far this year, with a car crashing through its storefront and then a burglary just a week later.
Chill Spot Rendezvous, located at 271 Baldwin Ave., just opened last year and is the brainchild of Maggie de Vera, who also works as director of Addiction Studies at College of San Mateo. De Vera opened the shop — which serves a range of ice cream flavors, desserts and savory comfort foods — with the intention of not just feeding customers but also providing a sober, communal meet-up spot.
“We host all sorts of activities, like workshops, meditation classes, bingo nights, even laughing yoga,” de Vera said. "It's a sober environment where people can come and have fun.”
Business had been going relatively well until Jan. 9, when a man accidentally accelerated into the storefront and crashed through the windows. The driver meant to reverse out of his parking spot but charged forward instead. No one was seriously injured, though the incident frazzled staff members — not to mention the driver himself — and caused damage to the storefront.
“The most important thing is that no one was hurt,” de Vera said.
Because the building is historic, the old structure actually prevented the car from crashing further into the store, she added.
“It’s a solid structure that they don't do now, so when he came crashing through, he went through the window, but we have an elevated window ledge and because it was made of pure concrete, he couldn’t pass through,” she said.
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Unfortunately, however, the next Friday, someone broke into the store and stole the cash register.
“We were able to get everything boarded up that night [of the crash], but I think it attracts attention because of how it looks and so I guess someone checked our stuff and came in and took our cash register,” de Vera said, adding that law enforcement has yet to identify a suspect.
Since January is already a slow month, de Vera had been planning several events this month that she eventually had to cancel.
“People love us once they find us, but the traffic is slow, and then in the winter it's worse,” she said. “So in January, I had all these things lined up — a poetry open mic, a DJ dance party.”
The shop is still open, though de Vera is still working on repairs and getting the store back to its original state. Once that’s finished, she said they plan to have another relaunch.
“I’m a therapist, and I’ve been in the healing profession … so opening this spot was a love letter to the community,” she said. “I wanted the community to have a place to come and feel good.
It's been tough, but I'm always trying to focus on what we can do.”
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