California Tortilla closed downtown last week after owners were unable to renew their lease
As one Mexican restaurant chain shuttered its doors downtown last week, another announced it is gearing up to unveil what will be its second College Park location.
In a newsletter last month, city officials announced Chipotle had signed a lease to open shop on Route 1 near IKEA — just three miles north of the chain’s downtown location in the College Park Shopping Center. And this month, California Tortilla closed its downtown location after eight years in business because the owners failed to renew its lease, according to Stacey Kane, the company’s marketing director.
While several students said Chipotle’s current location in the city has remained steadily popular since it opened in 2001, some said a second location in the city — with one just a few miles away in Greenbelt — may be a bit excessive.
“It seems kind of redundant to put another one in there,” said freshman information systems major Ryan Lienesch, adding he would rather see a locally-owned and operated business open instead.
But others, such as junior fire protection engineering major Richard Silver, said the restaurant’s popularity warrants an additional location.
“The line at the one Chipotle is out the door most days around dinnertime,” he said. “It makes sense to open another one.”
Michael Stiefvater, economic development coordinator for the city, wrote in an email that California Tortilla’s closing could most likely be attributed to the success of Chipotle and other nearby competitors that could have drawn customers away from the Mexican eatery.
“I imagine they weren’t reaching their estimated sales in that location to justify keeping it open,” Stiefvater wrote. “They face competition from Chipotle certainly, and the size of [California Tortilla’s] space was fairly large, so those factors probably played a large role in the decision to close the business.”
Kane said the restaurant’s owners were trying to renegotiate the lease with landlords but were unable to reach an agreement. Despite the business’ departure from College Park, she said the store has fared well in other locations near college campuses.
But junior environmental science and policy major Grant Klein said although Chipotle and Qdoba are nearby, California Tortilla will be missed.
“I’m disappointed,” he said. “When you’re competing with supposedly the most successful Chipotle location in the country, or at least it was at one time, it’s not surprising.”
And Silver said it is only appropriate a new Chipotle location should open as California Tortilla’s closes.
“[Chipotle’s] prices are either at or lower than California Tortilla,” he said. “It doesn’t really make sense for California Tortilla to stay open when they’re getting outperformed anyway.”
bach@umdbk.com
