Original Kafein Owner Died Thursday, Remembered Fondly By Staff

Longtime Kafein owner Irene Stics passed away on Thursday morning after a recent fight with cancer, according to former general manager Chris Waldron.

Stics, who recently sold the business, opened Kafein in the early ’90s after finishing film school in California, according to Waldron.

She "realized the Midwest didn't have coffee culture at the time like the West Coast did,” he said, and she set out to recreate the West Coast experience with Kafein.

Former employees remembered Sics for her warmth and dedication to the community she created at Kafein.

"Irene ran her business like a friend, it was never cut throat," said Marty Zeff, a former server at Kafein until it was closed for remodeling.

"Irene created a workspace in which I never felt subordinate," Ann Fefferman, a former Kafein server wrote in an email. "She gave us our coffee utopia."

The cafe changed hands on March 1, and according to Waldron, Stics sold the business because she was ill. 

The cafe's new owner, Kelly O'Leary, recently spoke to Patch about renovations at the 1621 Chicago Ave. storefront, but declined to comment on the cafe's possible new look or operations once it's reopened. 

"What kept Kafein viable for as long as it was, was Irene's hands off approach," Zeff said. "The people who ran Kafein were like the clientele."

The cafe kept late hours, hosted a weekly open mic and earned a reputation around the north suburbs for its young, no-nonsense staff.

"The place was real, you would be treated how you treated people, and for certain people that would be pretty negative," Waldron said. In other words, Kafein staffers were known to handle certain customers with sass. 

"It was like a bar for 17-year-olds," Waldron said. "It was a place to hang out before you could drink."

"It was the only alternative establishment in Evanston, period," he added.

Adapting to New Ownership

Zeff and Waldron agreed the change in ownership would likely uproot the original Kafein model, which until now went hand-in-hand with its employees.

According to the former GM, the new owners basically put the cafe's staff in a position to quit or wait for an uncertain future. 

"Nobody was told anything," Waldron said. "I'm yet to receive a call or an email."

Waldron has moved onto another job, but says Kafein's new ownership hasn't made much of an effort to communicate the cafe's renovations or future plans with its employees.

"You had people working there for 10 years," Zeff said. "They weren't bad employees, they deserve some safety and stability."

"When they return, Kafein is not going to be anything like it used to be," Waldron added. 

O’Leary told Patch earlier this month that the cafe is closed while workers correct some electrical issues. Asked when it would be back in business, she said she could not give an exact answer, since she was waiting for Evanston officials to come out to check whether the property met city standards before she could reopen.

"My focus is getting this place back to where it needs to be," she said.