Baycrest Caps & Corks, the family-run bottleshop and lotto counter at 333 E. 17th St. in Costa Mesa, quietly rang up its last sale at the end of March, closing the book on a 65-year neighborhood streak. Co-owner Bryan Nye said the shop shut down on March 31 after a new property owner declined to renew the lease. For the regulars who treated Baycrest as part barstool, part bulletin board, the darkened storefront leaves a big hole in the Eastside shopping center and erases a rare local stop for craft beer, rare spirits and a little counter-side gossip.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Nye said the family had to be out by April 1 after a commercial real estate firm bought the building last August and put the unit back on the market for lease. Baycrest tried to stay, offering 20% above the asking price, but when the landlord did not respond, the family shifted into fire-sale mode to clear the shelves. Nye told the paper there were “no hard feelings” about the outcome and summed it up as “kind of a bummer” while the family figures out its next move.
More Than A Corner Liquor Store
For decades, Baycrest functioned as a sort of unofficial town square where regulars swapped neighborhood news, weighed in on local drama and hunted for the latest hard-to-find bottle. The California Lottery had also taken notice over the years. As Enjoy Orange County notes, Baycrest was listed among the state’s “historical lucky retailers,” adding a bit of superstition to the standard beer run. That blend of lotto lore, niche booze selection and familiar faces helped keep steady foot traffic in a retail strip that has otherwise kept changing around it.
How Lucky Was It? The Numbers
The family told the Los Angeles Times that Baycrest was tied to roughly $27.2 million in winning lottery tickets between 1988 and 2007, including a $12.6 million jackpot in 1994. Nye said the shop typically handed out about $12,000 to $15,000 in payouts each week and ranked third in Orange County for lottery sales, a reliable stream of revenue that paired nicely with the store’s specialty spirits and craft beer lineup. With the lease now cut off, those sales – and the daily cluster of regulars around the counter – have gone quiet while the landlord looks for a new tenant…