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BY MARY PRAGER

In print | Published February 7, 2008

Amid rumors largely initiated by a post on the Daily Jolt that Da Vinci’s will be sold, owner Chris Bruno says no – and the Swarthmore Borough administration and the land’s realtor say they don’t know anything about the subject either.

Once known as the Cheese Court, Da Vinci’s is a small cafe in the Ville offering light meals, coffee and wireless internet. Da Vinci’s is owned by Chris Bruno and mostly student-run, catering increasingly towards students with coupons, artwork, live music performances and poetry readings. As of Feb. 4, not a single “Closing” or “For Sale” sign occupied space on the cafe’s windows. However, a suspicious ad posted online suggests something to the contrary.

On Jan. 31, 2008, an anonymous individual posted an ad entitled “Coffee Shops For Sale (serves breakfast/lunch) – $85,000” on Craigslist. According to Craigslist’s Web site, the service is a “local classifieds and forums for 450 cities worldwide – community moderated, and largely free.”

The site is financially sustained by ad revenue, and anybody can post classifieds without being subjected to extensive background checks. It also provides an e-mail forwarding service to which interested individuals can reply to a particular ad. Attempts to contact whoever posted the ad via Craiglist were not returned.

The specific ad goes on to describe a cafe that is unmistakably Da Vinci’s of the Ville: “Located in quaint village town across from Septa Regional Rail stop and local college,” “Light Fare served for breakfast/lunch/dinner,” “Existing owner will be re-modeling in the near future,” and of course, “Location: Swarthmore.” Some of the phrases are taken directly from Da Vinci’s Web site. The poster’s “reason for selling” is that the owner is opening a “new, larger location in Chester County.”

Later that day, an anonymous individual posted the link on the Swarthmore Daily Jolt. The identity of the individual who posted on the Jolt is unknown, and responses to the post are mild. The post neither confirmed nor denied the veracity of the ad.

Chris Bruno denied the rumors. “I am not sure where you heard this, but the store is not currently up for sale,” he said in an e-mail. Bruno, who recently celebrated the birth of his daughter, has been busy at home lately.

He indicated,however, that he has no intent to sell the café and said that he was not the individual who posted the ad online. An employee of Da Vinci’s, Liz McGlinchey, also denied the rumors. “Basically the story is that he’s not going to sell, that’s what he’s been telling all of us that work here,” McGlinchey said.

“It’s just that his wife just had a baby two and half months ago, a little girl, so he’s spending a lot more time at home with her, because his wife is a professor, so he has a lot less time to work at the shop. So mostly this is a … student-run coffee shop and then me and the cook in the back are the only ones who don’t go to Swarthmore,” she said.

“[Bruno] thought about [selling] because he can’t be here as much, but as far as I know … it’s not true that he’s going to sell. Right now we’re just trying to think of different things to get the college student life back in here,” she said.

Referring to the Craigslist ad in a later e-mail correspondence, Bruno said, “I can tell you this ad posted on Craigslist was not posted by me.” He continued to describe an individual who he believes may have posted the ad.

“There was a person we hired as a manager back in December who came in, got access to private information and quit after five days. He then tried to contact my landlord directly to find out when my lease expired, etc … It is a person whose intentions are quite despicable. Unfortunately anyone can place an ad on Craigslist as they have no verification process.”

The landlord in question is William J. Pastuszek Real Estate. “At this point we don’t know anything about it,” said a representative from the real estate agency who refused to identify herself.

The Swarthmore Borough Administration Office knew nothing either. Swarthmore Borough Town Center Coordinator Marty Spiegel, viewing the ad for the first time, confirmed that it must refer to Da Vinci’s.

“Sounds like there could only be one place that fits that description. That’s a pretty hefty price,” he said, adding that he would communicate with Bruno on the matter.

For now, while the provenance of the Craigslist ad remains unknown, it does not seem that Bruno plans to sell Da Vinci’s. Furthermore, the identity of the individual posting the ad remains unknown.

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