Considering I’ve only lived in Wichita for about a year and a half, I’m continually surprised by how often I feel at home – not just in my duplex, but out in the community, too. This city, despite its size, really is a six-degrees kind of place.

At Caffe Posto in College Hill, the number of degrees is usually only one, because I know owner Kay Conklin and usually about half the customers at any given time. The same goes for a large number of verb [ICT] staffers. It’s like our Cheers. The service, food and drinks, and ambiance couldn’t be better.

So, needless to say, we were devastated when the news broke Wednesday morning that the shop would close after this weekend. Kay is a master businesswoman (seriously, she has a cat named EBITDA), so if she can’t survive in this economy, I don’t know how anyone else is managing it. The loss is a huge blow to College Hill in particular and to Wichita’s coffee scene in general.

The shop will continue regular business hours through Saturday and go out in style with a customer appreciation event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. verb will be there, and we hope you’ll join us.

Below, more verb staffers ruminate on the demise of their favorite caffeine dealer.

The Sunday Afternoon Adventure Club, which never really had any adventures to speak of (unless you count rousing games of Jenga or copious gelato and coffee consumption), was formed at Caffe Posto in early 2009. Every Sunday, rain or shine, hungover or not, a group of us showed up to work (read: web surf), play Connect Four, chit chat with the Sunday barista crew, and recap the antics from the previous night.

Kay Conklin became the unofficial “sixth man” of the SAAC. Posto was our place. Our hangout. Home of the best bottomless cups of coffee in town, the tastiest gelato, the friendliest staff and an owner who would let us watch her cook in the basement kitchen.

Losing Caffe Posto is like losing a friend – someone you love and always expect to be there when you need them. They say it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Caffe Posto is no exception. - Shea Sylvia

Caffe Posto had the best lemon bars in town, hands down.  They were great anti-depressants. - Andrea Anglin

I “discovered” Caffe Posto this spring and it soon became my favorite coffee shop in Wichita. Not only was the atmosphere great, but Kay made it feel even more like home. Posto soon became a regular hangout of mine where I would meet up with friends. If I wanted someplace to go and read on a nice day, it would be the patio at Posto. On any given Sunday afternoon you could find me there, usually with my boyfriend, enjoying the quiche and coffee special. There isn’t a single flavor of quiche there that I haven’t tried! It tended to be the “neighborhood coffee house” for Wichita. Each time I would go I would run into a friend or someone that I knew and be able to have a conversation.

There will be a large void in my heart and stomach now that Wichita will be without Caffe Posto. Not only did Kay welcome in customers with a warm heart and sassy sense of humor, but she made me and many others feel so welcome there. - Liz Sothman

I know it sounds cliche, but Caffe Posto was a lot more than just a coffee shop to me. It truly was a second home! I can’t imagine how many hours (not to mention dollars) I’ve spent there over the past 12 or 13 months that I’ve been a regular, but I wouldn’t take back that time and money for anything. The staff always greeted me with a smile and asked me how I was doing – they even noticed when they hadn’t seen me in a while and would always ask me what I’d been up to (and if I’d been cheating on them). Whether I was there by myself, reading the paper and sipping on an Americano, or there with a group of friends, playing Jenga and eating gelato, I always had a great time and couldn’t wait to come back. The owner, Kay, welcomed me with open arms when we first met and encouraged me to come any time and stay for as long as I’d like. As far as business owners go, Kay is the friendliest, most honest, and hardest-working that I’ve ever met. I can’t express how much it pains me to see my absolute favorite business in the entire city close its doors, but I know I don’t have to, because I know my closest friends all feel the exact same pain. The rest of you Wichita coffee shops take note: you’ve got massive, mail-order-only size 18 shoes to fill. – Dustin Deckard

It’s hard to sum up Caffe Posto and all that it meant and will always mean to me. I’m 27 and for the first time this year I tried coffee. Caffe Posto took my coffee virginity. Now I start each day with a cup and if I don’t, my day just doesn’t feel right. Hearing that Posto is closing has brought back the same feelings as when my first boyfriend and I broke up. I feel sad. I feel lost. I feel shocked. Mainly, though, I feel heartbroken. After trying coffee for the first time, I was in love and I have Kay and her great staff to thank for that. It’s not only about the coffee, though. That place holds great memories. Many Sunday Afternoon Adventure Club meetings were spent at Posto with my closest friends, drinking coffee, eating the most delicious brownies and discussing our previous night’s shenanigans. I will never forget the afternoon we played Scrabble. No one had any good letter combinations to use and at the end we realized that the board was full of four-letter words. That seems appropriate now because upon hearing that one of my favorite places in ICT is closing, four-letter words are all that come to mind.

Caffe Posto: Thanks for the great coffee, the wonderful service and the memories I will hold with me forever. Wichita won’t be the same without you. – Carly Holmes

We’d like to know what Caffe Posto meant to you. Sound off in the comments.

Image courtesy of Donald Mason

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3. [shop] The Disappearing Local Business
4. daily [snap] – Caffe Moderne
5. [do] A Girls’ Day Out That Won’t Break the Bank