Coffee drinkers in the capital city will have one less place to get their caffeine fix after today.

The lease is up and Zola's Cafe Dore will shut its Main Street doors, leaving owner Zola Dore with more time for herself and to focus on the roastery inside Icycle Sports on Quartz Road.

Midnight Sun coffee will also continue to be sold at the Midnight Sun Coffee Roasters outlet inside the Canada Games Centre as well.

"Mostly it's just due to the lease coming due and choosing not to renew it," Dore said in an interview on the deck at the roastery Tuesday afternoon.

The choice not to renew the lease came out of Dore feeling like she was being pulled in two directions as she split much of her time between the Main Street shop and the roastery in up to 16-hour days, six days a week.

Many days saw her open up the Main Street location at 6:30 a.m. and be on the closing shift at the roastery at 6:30 p.m.

"In order to make it (the cafe) financially viable, I have to work in it as well," she said. "And I can't be two people in two places."

With coffee shops close to just about every block in the downtown core, proprietors have to be both owners and operators, she said.

When Dore opened the Main Street location in 2005, it was always her intention to sell it, she explained.

The challenge for her was to design it, a process that took her out of her comfort zone, making it a very different place than where her roastery was then at Fourth Avenue and Black Street.

That location was destroyed by fire later in 2005, with Dore then relocating to inside the Icycle Sports shop, which also features a small cafe.

"It's gotten to the point where it doesn't cover the bills if I'm not the one being the manager," Dore said of the Main Street location.

The cafe´ has been listed both internationally and locally, but no buyers have come forward, leaving Dore with the decision on whether to renew the lease or simply shut it down.

"That's actually, I think, one of the disturbing trends that's happening," she said. "I've talked with real estate agents and people like that and commercial restaurants and stuff are a hard-sell these days."

No longer does it seem independent entrepreneurs are coming up to the Yukon and opening businesses, she believes.

Insisting that the recent introduction of Starbucks to Main Street is not her reason for closing, Dore agreed the businesses coming into town are largely chains and franchises.

Buying into a franchise does come with certain benefits for local owners such as centralized buying and name recognition, though in Whitehorse it could be argued Midnight Sun Coffee Roasters is a fairly well-recognized name.

"I don't think that was a particular stumbling block for this; I just think there's less people wanting to take the risk of going into business," she said, noting though that entrepreneurial spirit is something the Yukon's always been well-known for.

"If we're losing that, what are we becoming?" she questioned. "That's the thing that disturbs me. Are we just becoming just another town that looks like anywhere else?"

It's buyers who have the power to make or break businesses in the territory by choosing where they shop, she said after arguing independent businesses add personality to the city.

"We shouldn't be just another strip-mall town," she said. "We should be able to support our independents (businesses).

"We should be able to support our arts communities. These are all choices that we make by who we support."

She was quick to point out as well though that there are a number of locally-owned franchises - such as Tim Hortons - which provide a lot of support for the community.

It's those types of things she would like to see shoppers think about when they shop, whether the business is supportive of the same initiatives they are.

For many prospective business owners, it can be more difficult to open up shop in the territory compared to a decade ago when she set up her roastery.

While residents may think businesses bring in a lot of money, there are the payroll and bills to cover, business fees, workers' compensation board rates and so on.

That may be why fewer people are opening up their own shops, Dore suggested.

"It's a lot different now because it's been so governmentalized. It no longer has the appeal to the people who are interested in pioneering," she said.

Instead, people find ways to fill that void outside of work - working to live rather than living to work, Dore said.

"I used to be the person that lived to work and now I'm older and I work to live now," she commented.

No longer wanting work to consume her life so she can have a chance to do things like riding her bike a bit through the summer possibly, Dore opted to shut down the Main Street location.

"It's been five years since I've spent anytime on my bike and anyone who knows me, knows I used to live on my bike," she said with a laugh.

In better times, with a better labour market, the decision on the cafe might have been different.

Dore expects the loss of her business on Main Street will mean more for other independent coffee shops in the area, similar to the business that went to Alpine Bakery and other local shops near Black Street when Midnight Sun burned.

"It's pure and simple. It wasn't that Starbucks was driving me out of business," she said.

Starbucks patrons were likely going to go there already, whereas her customers tended to frequent the independent shops around Whitehorse.

Though she didn't lose any customers to the mammoth coffee chain, it did scare off some potential buyers who were wary of the impact of Starbucks, she said.

"They were scared."

Dore had hoped to wait a little longer after the arrival of the chain on Main Street to sell off her shop, but with the lease coming up, she had to make a decision.

Though the cafe was on the market prior to Starbucks opening on Main Street, the chain never approached Dore about buying out her shop.

For one, Starbucks is typically stationed on corners rather than within a block, as Dore's shop is.

Dore also commented it would likely be a "PR nightmare" with "locals up in arms" for the chain to buy out an independent shop.

"But hey, had they come and offered me something, who knows?" she said.

The space will revert to the Hougen Group to lease out to another business, though Dore will continue trying to sell the business for another month.

While her night manager from the cafe will join Dore and the two full-time and two part-time staff at the Quartz Road location, the other five full-time and two-part-time workers on Main Street are left without jobs.

Dore noted two were already planning to move away and she has confidence they all will be able to find work.

"They've been great. It's nice to be able to close knowing that everybody tried their absolute hardest," she said, adding each of her staff will get great recommendations from her.

Dore has been pleased to hear the support of her customers, but is a bit bothered by the misconception that the cafe's closure is due to Starbucks.

She's grateful to her many customers who have shown their buying power by supporting her business.

"(There's also been) a lot of really heartfelt support for me in making a decision about health and life and, you know, doing what I need to do for me," she said, noting it feels good to know people understand that.