Penninn closes Austurstræti café and seeks new operator

mbl.is reports that the café inside the Penninn/Eymundsson bookstore on Austurstræti has closed, and the company is looking for a new operator to run it.

Penninn chief executive Ingimar Jónsson said the café has not been dismantled and the company would welcome a partner. He said Penninn wants to focus on its core business, adding that running a café is a demanding undertaking for companies in the current economic climate.

Ingimar said the decision followed the same reasoning as the closure of the café in Penninn’s Skólavörðustígur store last spring and the end of café operations at the company’s bookshop in Akureyri. At the Akureyri shop, Lyst owner Reynir Grétarsson took over the café, which Ingimar said had worked well.

A café has operated in the Austurstræti bookstore for two decades. Te og kaffi ran it for most of that time, before Ingimar and his team took over after the coronavirus pandemic. He said the business could work well for someone who is personally involved in running it.