Two leftists named Sonam Parikh and Kate Egghart who decided to open a coffee shop in Philadelphia.
They were only able to do this because Kate Egghart’s mom, EJ Egghart, was a successful accountant who purchased a building in Philadelphia from an Iranian businessman who’d been using it for storage. [Cue lefties gladly taking the benefits earned by somebody who actually works for a living.]
Sonam Parikh and Kate Egghart then spent 3 years cleaning and preparing the site to open their coffee shop, Mina’s World. ... Mina’s World finally opened on February 28, 2020, which quickly turned out to be a truly terrible time to
open a business.
Mina’s World, sitting on 52nd Street between Hazel and Larchwood, was founded in February of 2020 on the principles of social justice. The two majority owners, Sonam Parikh and Kate Egghart, define themselves as queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) and strove to make their cafe a safe space for others like them. Mina’s World sold local artists’ goods, covered community members’ meals when they couldn’t afford them, and offered lower–priced coffee in an effort to make often–elitist coffee culture accessible to lower–income customers. Mina’s World also funds and maintains The People’s Fridge, a food bank outside of the cafe.
Two weeks after it opened, businesses in Philadelphia were largely shut down and Mina’s World became a pick-up window for coffee. Customers, who were outside, were required to always wear masks when interacting with staff.
Speaking of staff, the fledgling company hired four employees all of whom were trans and/or black.
Those employees soon decided they were unhappy with conditions at the shop and demanded a “radical accountability process” from the owners. [Wow, employees hired based on their supposed victimhood turn out not to be good employees?!? Who'da thunk it?!?]
“We are facing systemic employer opposition, manipulation, abuse of power, exploitation, anti-blackness, ableism, hostility and complete disregard for our livelihoods,” they said. The “List of Grievances” published by the workers — don’t we all have one? — was extremely vague, with such claims as:
- “Anti-blackness in a multitude of forms & occasions”
- “Tokenization as a way to appear safe by association
- “Ableism in the form of inaccessibility, etc etc”
One alleged instance of anti-blackness was that when a group of black teenagers stole the Mina’s World tip jar and customers ran after them to retrieve it, the owners didn’t defend… the thieves. Without a hint of irony, the employees also accused the owners of “wage theft.”
The owners made a
cringey video apologizing for their role in gentrifying the neighborhood and promised to turn the store into a co-op, meaning the four employees would become co-owners.
However, the employees plans to seize the means of production didn’t go as smoothly as they had hoped. Kate Egghart’s mom, EJ Egghart, decided enough was enough. She had bought the building and had been allowing Mina’s World to operate rent free. Plus she was paying the electrical bill for “The People’s Fridge.” She also paid their insurance and did their books. In an
Instagram post she explained that
the “current business model of low coffee pricing, high labor” costs wasn’t sustainable. They were literally buying top tier beans and selling coffee at discounted prices so low-income customers could afford it. [Lefties actually believe they can charge customers less then it costs to make their product because equity. Less, lefties are in fact that stupid.]
So instead of allowing the co-op to proceed, EJ Egghart put the building up for sale. The employees accused EJ of being rich and responded by creating a GoFundMe campaign to buy the building. They were seeking to raise $200,000. They eventually raised just over $10,000 but by that point it didn’t matter. The cafe close for good on July 1, 2022.
The four employees announced they would be keeping the money. [Lefties ... business that charges more for product than it costs to make are capitalist pigs; also lefties ... raising money for something and then keeping the money for yourself when that something does not turn out is hunkey-dorey!]
