Celyn Brown has operated her coffee shop, Celyn’s Espresso Café, on the ground floor of Portland’s Edith Green - Wendell Wyatt Federal Building for about a year-and-a-half.
Brown, who is legally blind, said she’s been through a government shutdown before, but it lasted less than one business day in January of 2018.
This time it’s different. The shutdown is in its 18th day Tuesday.
“We do have two floors full out of 18 floors,” Brown said. “So, that’s not very many people.”
Brown says her drip coffee sales are down 75 percent, and her espresso and food sales are only a fraction of normal amounts.
“There’s nobody out there. The tables are empty,” said Brown.
Brown says she thinks she will get through the shutdown, but she’s worried about her employees at the café.
“I have two employees, one full-time employee, and then my second employee, who is part-time, is not working, and so my fear is that I will lose those employees if this continues on much longer,” Brown said.
Brown remains hopeful, and says she looks forward to seeing her regulars at the café soon.
“I think I will get through it. I don’t know what that looks like. I’m optimistic,” she said.
“The people in this building are just awesome. I love federal employees. They’re awesome.”