Fussy Coffee, a Science Park cafe, closed its doors in early September, but Japan Village is set to open next door in 2026.
Abdel Abdu
2:22 am, Oct 21, 2025
Contributing Reporter
Abdel Abdu, Contributing Photographer
A Japanese market is slated to open in 2026 next to the now-closed storefront of Fussy Coffee, a modern coffee shop west of Yale’s Science Hill that shuttered last month.
The Science Park cafe, which had operated in a Yale University Properties-owned storefront since 2018, closed its doors in early September with little notice. The New Haven Independent reported that the closure announcement blindsided the coffee shop’s workers, prompting them to walk out midway through a work day.
“With mixed emotions, we announce that Fussy Coffee has closed its doors,” owner David Negeiro wrote in an Instagram post formally announcing the closure. “As we close this chapter, I look forward with excitement to beginning the next one.”
Negeiro did not respond to the News’ emailed requests for comment.
Over the summer, signs popped up in the storefront next to Fussy Coffee that advertised the New York City-based Japan Village, which boasts a variety of Japanese vendors and live performances. The Japan Village website describes the store’s mission as bringing traditional Japanese culture into the public view. Japan Village did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls from the News.
The storefront Japan Village is slated to take over next year is also owned by Yale University Properties, a part of the Yale Office of New Haven Affairs, or ONHA, which manages the University’s retail, office and residential properties.
According to the ONHA website, the office “provides a front door to Yale and its resources for the people and organizations of Greater New Haven.” The ONHA’s mission is to spark economic revitalization and community development for the city, the website adds.
David DelVecchio, director of real estate asset management at Yale University Properties, stressed the University’s support for the new Japan Village location in an email to the News.
“Their diverse offerings will create a dynamic destination that attracts visitors from across New Haven and beyond,” DelVecchio wrote in the email. “Yale University Properties is excited to welcome Japan Village to Science Park as part of our ongoing commitment to enhance Science Park and the surrounding neighborhoods by cultivating a vibrant mix of merchants.”
He added that visitors of the Japan Village storefront, including students and New Haveners, will also support other local businesses in the area.
Japan Village’s sole storefront is located in Brooklyn’s Industrial City in New York.
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