No More Oktoberfest Tea Time at The Aubrey Rose

After 11 years in the La Mesa Village and 10 years of operating during Oktoberfest, The Aubrey Rose Tea Room at 8362 La Mesa Blvd. has decided to close its doors during the annual celebration, owner Dave Wyatt said.

"It's possibly the worst thing that could possibly happen to us," Wyatt said. "We tried to stay open last year and we took in less money than we made."

The Aubrey Rose offers English style tea time and fine gifts to customers, who are "mostly women who enjoy the civility of afternoon tea," Wyatt said. 

Altogether, Wyatt predicts that he will lose up to $7,000 for shutting his doors.

It might help if he owned a bar, Wyatt said, but in the last 10 years he has found that his customers aren't attracted to the crowds or constant foot traffic in and out of the store that can interrupt afternoon tea.

"If we had bratwurst scones and beer flavored tea it might help us," he said. 

In contrast, Centifonti's Restaurant across the street from the tea room expects a lot of traffic as Das Boot, a 128-oz. beer in a glass boot, grows in popularity.

"We're going to go through maybe 50 kegs of beer this weekend," said owner Carol Tolosko.

Like Wyatt, Rick Bucklew at Don Keating's Used Cars said his business loses money during Oktoberfest. He sells space for vendors in front of the shop and in his parking lot to make up for the loss.

"We have to shut down the business for 3-4 days," Bucklew said. "So this gives us a bit of income during the closure."

"It's something I don't like but it does so much good for other people," he said.