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CYBERCAFE was founded in April 1995 by three young entrepreneurs. The idea originated in London, England when one of the partners noticed a new type of café, cleverly called CYBERIA. This novelty provided the general public Internet access in a quality café setting. At that time, nothing similar existed in New York and in light of the emerging Internet boom the opportunity to open a specialty café with computers seemed irresistible.
The partners found the perfect spot for their new store at 273 Lafayette Street on the corner of Prince Street, in SoHo's new Silicon Alley. The 20 ft tin ceilings and enormous windows reflected everything the Internet symbolized: openness and greater freedom of speech. Right from the beginning, we have been committed not only to the ideals of the Internet, but the importance of friendly and knowledgeable service, which continues to be the hallmark of their business. After raising some capital and doing all the construction themselves, the doors opened on June 14th 1995.
The business was a success and then something amazing happened. Companies started to call to schedule events for all their new web site launches. Quickly, a new business emerged providing companies a place to show off their latest technology. Everyone from Microsoft and AOL to Parker Brothers and Zif Davis began to rent the store for a special event. The little store on the corner began to glow very nicely.
In 1996, CYBERCAFE licensed its concept to a huge arcade center in the middle of Times Square. 50 computers were installed and millions of people from all over the world came to visit. In addition, a hotel serving the US Army & Marines in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. also bought a license and CYBERCAFE became the first Internet café in the Middle East. By 1999, enough funds had been saved up to open a second store in Manhattan at 250 West 49th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue. It was becoming clear that the main focus of the business would no longer be locals without computers, but New York's 37 million tourists, all of whom would eventually have email accounts.
All was well until the tragedy of September 11th 2001. New York's tourist trade slowed considerably, especially downtown below 14th Street, where CYBERCAFE's first store was located. Sadly after nine months, the store at 273 Lafayette Street was finally closed down. The loss was great, but it's other store on 49th Street still remained profitable.
Eventually, in March 2003 CYBERCAFE opened another store in the Taste Of New York Food Court on 8th Avenue between 44th & 45th Streets, opposite the famous Milford Plaza Hotel. The tourists have begun to return to this great city and CYBERCAFE plans to keep expanding its friendly service throughout New York and elsewhere.
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