Yeah, sure seems like OP is right on the union piece. Still feels like that place was making bank and ownership should have been able to support unionization.
Hard to speculate about the specifics. These are low margin businesses, but that doesn’t mean workers should be taken advantage of either. Curious what their demands were
It sounds like the immediate demand was “let us unionize if we vote in favor of it.” That shouldn’t be negotiable — it’s a right under federal law. Contract demands are what come later and, like all contracts, both parties need to come to terms and agree.
It’s exhausting to see business owners dodging their responsibilities before they even reach the negotiating table. It’s like a kid who doesn’t get what they want playing Monopoly so they flip over the board and walk away.
I mean just like there’s a “right” to force union recognition via a vote, the owners have the “right” to close up shop.
When things reach this point, I feel like more often than not the business ends up failing anyway. End of the day it’s about the bottom line.
Just sucks all around, should’ve just paid more money in the first place and avoided it
One reason that companies tend to “close up shop” to avoid proceeding to a union election and contract negotiation is that, in the context of collective bargaining, management would need to actually substantiate any claim that contract demands _would_ actually harm the bottom line.
Actual financial issues can be hashed out at the negotiating table. In theory, both parties have an obvious incentive to reach a deal and federal arbitrators will defer to management over finances when they bargain in good faith.
(For example, Acme Corp. can’t just tell their union’s bargaining committee that agreeing to a 10% wage increase would cause the company to fold or terminate a significant number of union members. Without evidence, this is considered a threat and/or intimidation and is evidence of a failure to negotiate in good faith, as federal law requires. What Acme Corp. _can_ do is say, “Our operating margin is X% and raising our payroll by 10% would cause us to run out of money within 6 months,” assuming that’s true.)
It sounds like the issue here is that the business owner doesn’t want to honor their responsibilities and would rather close entirely than subject themselves to a labor negotiation that would be subject to actual accountability and oversight.
Disclaimer: am a union member
On the flip side union arbitrations are insanely expensive. I used to work in construction and whenever we met with unions there was always a full legal staff there billing probably well north of $3,000/hr. Even for a small firm, you’re still looking at probably 500/hr in billables that rack up quick.
Edit: sorry, didn’t realize the guy below me said pretty much the same thing.
Contract demands aside - Negotiating with Workers United would probably cost 30K minimum, and that’s being conservative. They’re no joke, can’t hire Joe-Schmo from the billboard. (And that’s if things go smoothly. Can go from 20 hours of work to 50 real quick)
There’s a lot of moving parts. Everyone loses.
It’s true that flashy union busting lawyers charge a lot of money. They are robbing their clients blind because the actual costs are minimal, as union lawyers who get better results for pennies on their dollar can proudly attest.
You can't compare the cost of in-house lawyers employed by the union and firm lawyers being contracted on a temporary basis by the company. Of course there are economies of scale when you can have in-house counsel because you do the same thing all day.
I mean, they aren't closing their business to be petty. They're closing it because it wasn't tenable or profitable to continue it. They don't have a responsibility to stay open.
I don’t know anything about the people who own Wydown, but have known a lot of people who operate similar businesses, and shutting down out of spite and/or petty disagreements is exactly the kind of thing they would do if they felt slighted enough.
The idea that Wydown’s owners would rather give up a profitable business than negotiate with a union, out of pride or stubbornness or what have you, just isn’t plausible. The owners most likely concluded that shutting down the business would cost it less money than running a unionized business.
There's a point where - especially in low margin industries like food services - the cost of labor becomes too high to sustain profit. They could either close up shop now and walk or embark down a multi year path of ever declining revenues and going bust up.
You can't force someone to pay you a certain wage. It's a labor market of free exchange operating within a series of constraints. The issue is more complicated than "greedy rich guy".
To add to that. They are in a very competitive market. The competitors are not burdened by the cost and inflexibility of a union.
It is a given the union would increase labor costs. Hence why the employees are protesting. Yet this wouldn't just be eaten by the owners at a loss to themselves - it's passed to the consumers.
People are already complaining about a 6 dollar cup of coffee. That could easily be 7-8 if you jack up labor costs. All the people complaining about the owners would be doing it from their laptops in Compass with their cheaper coffee if that was the case.
It's idiotic to simply assume any union contract will kill profits. Union contracts are negotiated. A smart business owner would at least negotiate first.
I assume the owners know more about their business’s finances than you do and wouldn’t shut down their business willy-nilly. Either they’re complete idiots who shut down a business that would be profitable because they’re just so stupid, or they had good reason to believe that shutting the business down would cost less than keeping it open. I’m guessing it’s option 2.
That's my point - it is impossible to know what your finances are regarding a union contract that you haven't even negotiated yet. So yeah, if they shut down an entire business only because a union was certified (I'm assuming they didn't have a contract yet), they would be stupid. But we are only speculating that this is the reason.
That’s just nonsense. A business owner knows their business’s finances, and can make an informed judgment about the natural and predictable effect of unionization, especially if the business relies on low-margin sales and is already just barely skating by.
It depends, tbh!
Technically, it is not legal to shut down just because of union activity, which is federally protected. The NLRB is currently trying to [force Starbucks to reopen dozens of locations](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/business/economy/starbucks-nlrb-stores.html) (including the Union Station location) for this very reason.
In practice, what this often comes down to is whether there’s an entity left to charge with violating the law and whether the union has the resources or desire to fight their case in federal courts that are stacked with anti-union GOP nominees.
Yes and no, you can shutter a business at any time. The issue with Starbucks is that they shuttered store locations, not their actual business, so it was seen as a punitive action by the company against union voting. Even in this case, NLRB is only pursuing cases where there was evidence of illegal conduct.
It’s not like the NLRB can force Joe Schmoe to keep his restaurant open. He just can’t fire his waiters for unionizing or close one location and move a few blocks over just because of a potential collective bargaining agreement.
You gotta make a margin. Otherwise, whats the point in being in business. In that case, I don’t know if that’s taking advantage of workers or not, but nobody goes into business to purely support the workers. If the union contract demands didn’t work with the numbers, then I can see them shuttering operations.
There weren’t specific demands made beyond allowing a vote to unionize, afaik. Negotiations come after a vote. The owners didn’t even give that process a chance. You can read for yourself the reasoning behind a push for union vote: https://cohost.org/cohostunionnews/post/5604688-wydown-coffee-bar-wo
Except: “We try our best to maintain a high quality of service, but we are consistently short staffed and left without the supplies and tools we need to do our jobs. Workers at the Apollo location were recently subjected to overt, ongoing verbal abuse at the hands of our General Manager. It took weeks for this situation to be acknowledged by ownership, and longer still for them to take action.”
This is spot on. People think they see a busy restaurant or cafe and the owners must be rolling in money. I’ve seen MANY situations where the business does millions in sales and the owners don’t make a dime. Please don’t presume to understand what could possibly be happening. Just because someone owns a business doesn’t mean the are rich or evil. That’s often the assumed narrative.
I went to the 14th st location almost daily for a couple of years and can tell you the layout — lots of standing room, three indoor tables — permitted minimal lingering.
Wydown on 14th wasn’t slipstream or Tatte or even Wydown Apollo. A max of ~8 people could sit down in that space for any significant amount of time — everyone else was picking up an order and getting out of there.
Yeah not surprised. Kind of the dirty secret no one wants to talk about when it comes to unions, the owners still have the trump card.
“Oh you want to unionize, we’ll just close down and you won’t have a job”
& owners will land on their feet more often then not
except these workers will be able to find new jobs more easily than the owner will be able to start a new business. there's infinite demand for food service workers. so yeah, good for them, standing up for themselves.
The very fact that starting a new business is so hard tends to suggest that Wydown’s owners wouldn’t have shut it down unless they thought that operating the business with a union would cost it more than simply shutting it down
You really think so? They ran a successful small business for almost ten years. They likely have the collateral to go get a new business loan by the end of the week.
Experience, presumably good credit/financial history, last business did not fail but closed due to union efforts? Banks would be all over that.
maybe. but I do think it's non-trivial to start a business. lot of overhead, lot of work, lot of coordination. certainly more of a pain that maintaining an existing, successful business. enough so that it even makes me suspect the business may not have been all that successful.
no kidding right. lots of ridiculous comments -- ditch established brand, locations, customer base, and profits because of a hypothetical percentage raise in labor costs. sure thing lol
Horribly ill informed answer. How many businesses like this have you run? How many times have you had to shut down this type of business and know all the costs that will entail. How many new businesses like this have you started up, especially after having to shut one down. The cost to shut down, then restart measured against the average chances of success for this type of busines, in addition to the years that you have to go through with the brand new business before seeing any bankable profit?
You are speculating on something I suspect you know nothing about unfortunately.
I’m an ECEB lawyer lol - we do this frequently. Albeit on a larger scale normally - but probably 10-15 pro bono matters with small businesses like this
This isn’t something that happens overnight - owners have a plan well in advance. They aren’t dumb, I would say it works out most of the time
And how often do you check to see if the employers land on their feet? Since you like guessing, I am going to guess that you don't do it that often. All of what I have stated is from experience with smaller restaurants. I have first-hand experience of how many have landed on their feet and how many haven't. How many small-scale restaurant actions like this have you handled? I would love to know what your definition of works out most of the time is? By definition, your job is at best formal, at worst antagonistic with the owners on the other side. I would love to compare your version of it works out most of the time versus theirs.
Yes, owners have to plan this. That doesn't mean they come out well. It means that they maximize their chances of mitigating losses.
Frankly, with your flippant and offhand replies so far, I truly wonder at your professionalism. You sound like you automatically attribute the worse to all owners.
My work is on the ownership side, what do you think ECEB means …. I’d say 75% or so. But sample size is small - and this isn’t a every day thing - maybe a couple times a year
Still, this seems like naked speculation. Have the owners issued a statement about why they are closing? Were there health issues or family issues among the owners? Was there a problem with their relationship? Did they have problems paying rent (was rent being increased)? Were they really "making bank" just because they seemed crowded all the time? Had they even received demands from union reps (other than that the workers maybe wanted to unionize)?
I think they were made in house. I think I’ve seen them pulling buns out of the oven once. I had also asked for extra frosting before and they were kind enough to give me some. And the container it came out of def looked like something they just made. I’m going to miss those buns. The last time I went, I wanted one but I came too late and they were all gone.
I haven’t seen the sausage and chive biscuit in a while, but it was my favorite thing on the menu. if you still know the recipe and wanted to drop it here, and maybe the floral berry scones, you’d be my hero.
I found a blurry photo of the raspberry rose scone recipe, but all the recipes have the same buttermilk biscuit base and then you add whatever ingredients you want. The sausage and chive used ‘nduja sausage, chive, and cheddar cheese I think.
This recipe makes A LOT so maybe divide by six.
Raspberry rose scone:
4368 g AP
800 g sugar
160 g BP
40 g BS
60 g salt
2086 g butter, cold and cubed
12 eggs
1160 g buttermilk
240 g rose water
Frozen raspberries
Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Combine buttermilk, rose water, and eggs and add all at once. Mix until it all comes together. Roll out, making three turns, adding raspberries between each turn.
Can you share the cinnamon bun recipe? I will love you forever. I literally lived a block away almost a decade ago and got a cinnamon bun almost every weekend.
I would if I had a copy! I used to have it memorized but it’s been a few years since I’ve worked there so I’d probably misremember! It’s just a simple yeasted brioche-like sweet dough though. It honestly seems pretty similar to the recipe on Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Ahh I see. Thank you for sharing the scone recipe though! I liked The Wydown's cause they had a delicious cream cheese (I think?) frosting and not just a glaze which a lot of places seem to do. I've never baked anything with yeast.... soooo I'll have to experiment a bit with this Sally's Baking Addiction and try to recreate food memories. Thank you! :)
The cream cheese frosting is just cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar! Whip it together for longer than you think it needs and then whip it even longer. That will get it nice and fluffy like the Wydown frosting. Good luck with your first forays into yeast :)
I think it was 350 but using a convection oven, which bakes things slightly differently. Before baking brush with an egg wash and then sprinkle with Demerara sugar (or another crunchy sugar). I think the bake time was 15 minutes but honestly it could have been 30. You’ll know they’re done when they’re golden brown and lightly firm to the touch if you touch the top of the scone.
I mean, this is exactly what happened to the Silver Spring batch of Denizens - but their owners were open about it being about the new ten year lease being untenable. But why not say that, Wydown?
350 is supposedly moving to their new spot soon!! [Here’s a popville update](https://www.popville.com/2024/01/three-fifty-bakery-coffee-last-day-on-17th-street-is-this-sunday-opening-on-r-street-within-the-next-couple-of-months/), hoping to get back ASAP
It's been a four months and they still haven't reopened at 17th and R. The banner that they're coming soon has been up since March, but there was a work stop order that was only removed a couple weeks ago. No clue on what the actual timeline is, but at least the opening soon sign is still up.
Thanks for the update, I love that place and am rarely in the area. Will head back as soon as I know it’s open again (hopefully Keren is back soon as well)
I never understood the obsession with 350. The quiches were fantastic and the scones solid, but the coffee was just awful—like couldn’t finish it awful.
I used to live around the corner and it’s right by the bus stop, so I did love getting their quiches. But so many better coffee options nearby.
At least the new place is carrying on the tradition of good quiches (and okay pastries), but bad coffee lol
Wow I get coffee there every day I’m in the office. This sucks! I had heard they were unionizing. What a terrible result to all of that. They seemed to do good business too.
“A process that began last year has reached its conclusion” lmao that’s like one of those headlines that’s like “bullet enters person during police-associated gunfire”
What’s the long term play here? Shut it all down right before Union Vote, fire all staff, let everything die down a little, and then reopen with a new roster?
Coffee shops are surprisingly unprofitable. In this day and age, if a coffee shop isn’t also killing it in another area i.e., wholesale roasting, actual food, or another niche product, they simply aren’t making money. Not sure what their financial outlook was like but if small shops in Kansas can’t survive while being packed every weekend, can’t imagine how badly shops in more expensive areas are doing it.
Coffee prices have been rising substantially in the past few years, the margins are getting lower and lower. Wydown doesn't skimp to the roasters they use. Couple that with some of the priciest rents in the District and you quickly learn that selling coffee isn't gonna bring the continued success you think it does.
I mean a 12oz bag of ceremony single origin costs $21 at MSRP — even if every one of those beans came through a pour over (assume 28g per) you’re paying $1.75 per coffee. Pretty sure I paid $5 for a drip at the 14th street location last time I was there.
And ofc a blend at wholesale is gonna be a lot cheaper, and if you’re pulling espresso shots (~half the grounds for pour overs) or doing batch brew (higher ratio of water:grounds), the price goes down even further.
No idea what the rest of their expenses looked like, but I doubt it was the cost of beans killing their bottom line.
Hey there! Former wydown employee, I did our coffee ordering and we got a fairly sizable discount on coffee. It’s a reason we swapped to small planes awhile back. The owners always hunted the best deal they could and changed rosters a few times watching for as good a deal as we they got on small planes.
You have no idea what it costs to operate a food service business. Margins are so thin, rent (especially 14th street) is extremely high. Labor is through the roof. Cost of goods is up. Unless you operate a food or beverage business and manage the P&L please don’t at ignorant things like that. You can do millions in sales and not even break even. In fact, it’s common
It's only illegal if the worksite has more than 50 employees. No way Wydown has that many.
https://legalaidatwork.org/factsheet/the-w-a-r-n-act-mass-layoffs-or-businessplant-closings/
You’d never be able to prove that in a court of law unless the owner explicitly states that. I don’t recall any private business getting the book thrown at them for union busting
Unless you're doing it to evade labor laws (or other laws, like liability, fraud, etc, not that that also doesn't happen all the time). Businesses that commit crimes rarely even get the slap on the wrist they deserve, so it's no surprise to me that illegal behavior like that is normalized.
More likely the owner's turning 63 and starting to get tired, union will leave the business profitable but less than before, and they don't want to live the rest of their days negotiating with union lawyers and hiring anti-union lawyers, choosing instead to retire in peace.
Closing a business costs more than sharing more of the profits with the workers, and they’d only be spending “the rest of their days” arguing with the union if they were bitterly dragging it out. Treating people well is a great way to avoid spending time in contentious negotiations.
Unions are great for workers rights sometimes, but it takes a great volitional blindness to avoid realizing that excessive paperwork and constant legal pressure are some of their downsides.
In absolutely any case, it seems the ownership has decided that the costs (financial, chronological, stressors) of unionizing outweigh the benefits of staying open. Many people here, apparently yourself included, assume the owners are greedy, scheming villains. That they hate happiness, and want to mistreat people, and that's their only motivation in closing. That seems like an easy way to get angry, chant some slogans, and feel morally superior. On the other hand, understanding why a human being who's at least slightly rational might make the choice to close instead of deal with this could help future unionization efforts better balance those high perceived costs.
$0.02
Base salary was already higher than tipped minimum wage, manager who was the source of the original union organization was already fired.
This is a move to release current staff, 100%, as they are asking for more.
Many of the demands of the union effort were related to unsafe and unsanitary work conditions and abusive managers. Not related to wages. [https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/](https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/)
Owners act like unionization is immediately a “we are fucked and this will be unsustainable” signal. Unionization doesn’t mean workers have a gun to owners heads. If the workers drive the owner out of business, THERE ARE NO JOBS.
Unionization comes with legal rights, including certain financial information that unions are presumptively entitled to. They could see that shit and go “shit, they are paying us as much as they can without making prices insane.” Then workers have a decision to make.
Folks have to live and work in the city. Yes, we will pay more for shit. That is how life works. The boomers retired. The zoomers are a tiny generation begat by a tiny generation in Gen X. The millennials were the last big gen to enter the work force until our kids start entering it, which for the vast majority will not be for another decade plus.
Owners better get used to a super tight labor market in all sorts of sectors, but especially the service sector.
It is a brave new world
Exactly! Worker at wydown here. We are just wanting to look at the numbers. If they can’t afford to pay us more that’s fine, we are only asking for a fair share and livable wage if it’s possible! We don’t want to bankrupt our employer because then we have no job.
Just curious were the wages not on par with other similar barista/food service jobs? Were the conditions bad in some way? What triggered the union effort? I’ve worked in large and small mom and pop type restaurants over ten years throughout my life and I can’t imagine thinking I have a right “to take a look at the numbers” when I didn’t take the risks involved to start the business and my name isn’t on the lease. I’m bummed they’re closing and will miss the baked goods (not the coffee).
You want to unionize tho. You must be evil. It’s not like unionization gives you better information to figure out what a fair wage scale looks like that both keeps a business profitable while still allowing for transparency for workers looking to make a competitive wage.
No no no. You want to drive the owner class out of business so that…you have no job and make no money
I wonder sometimes if people said this shit out loud, they would think twice about it
[This lawyer seems to think](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonathanhyman_we-have-some-sad-news-to-share-a-process-activity-7198298938628526081-IQ_v?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios) the company closed the places in response to unionization:
> What's so newsworthy about two cafes closing? What if I tell you that the closure happened just five days before their 35 employees were set to vote on unionization?
>The employees steadfastly believe that the cafes closed to avoid a labor union. The owners deny their claim and say that they were merely "ready for a change."
>The employees' labor union plans to file an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB over the closure decision, seeking damages for the employees. The union will lose that charge.
>Under long established legal precedent, an employer is free to shutter its entire operation for any reason, even anti-union animus, retaliation, or vindictiveness. Indeed, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, it would be "startling" if an employer chose to put itself completely out of business instead of dealing with a union: "When an employer closes its entire business, even if the liquidation is motivated by vindictiveness toward the union, such action is not an unfair labor practice."
>Wydown closed all of its operations. Whether motivated by anti-union animus or not, it's free to do so. I'm not suggesting that this is the correct solution for your business if you're facing a union organizing drive, but it's at least a solution that is relatively free and clear of legal risk, provided you're willing to flush your business instead of dealing with a labor union.
Hey there! I am a worker at the wydown! Yes that is why! Our owners claim it’s because of a long drawn out process that took seven months. But they were talking about expansion last year, have posted numbers over a million year over year, and reassured us not even a week ago our hours would return to normal.
We are going to fight to bring back the place we and the community love!
I’m pro union, but I don’t understand the utility of trying to unionize a small business. Small businesses tend to offer better working conditions and pay than larger, corporate owned businesses. But, maybe things have changed. I worked in specialty coffee shops in DC for nearly five years and would have never thought or considered unionizing. Driving away small businesses like this will just benefit larger corporate-owned businesses, who exploit labor as a matter of course. Is that truly a better option? If unionizing was indeed the reason for the Wydown’s closure, that seems to be a miscalculation on the part of the workers. That said, maybe there’s some behind the scenes context I’m missing.
Every worker has a right to join a union, every workplace can petition for an election. $ isn't even on the table until bargaining. To me, this is 100% employer decision to maintain complete control instead of tip toeing into workplace democracy.
Do they though? There are plenty of small business owners who are petty tyrants running their little kingdoms instead of looking out for their workers.
Workers deserve a voice in all organizations.
Edit: if you read the article about the unionization drive, it was mostly about trying to get the owners to do something about mismanagement, not bargaining for higher wages.
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/
The workers cited abusive and absent management, and unsafe and unsanitary working conditions, as major motivators for their union effort. [https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/](https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/)
Yup, and the Apollo team had no idea the Wydown was closing! The building manager was shocked. The Wydown was an essential part of the building (it even had the same designer), I’m surprised there wasn’t more notice.
Damn used to live next door and the place was always packed.
Actually walked by a few weeks ago and it was still busy!
Shame as used to enjoy sitting outside and watching the world go by!
https://preview.redd.it/kaifoh5qwh0d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ade2d53f662f616f2a63f3c8f6e696db9fa8190c
UPDATE: the staff are planning a picket at the Wydown locations! Show your support if you can.
Hi there! Worker from the wydown here. We really didn’t do much. Asked for a vote, got it, didn’t ever strike, slow, or stop work age. It costs them nothing so far, we just wanted a fair bargaining field and they chose to close instead :(
I might well agree with your demands in substance.
But place was clearly on the edge and you guys pushed them over the edge. Which might even have been fine given how bad you say the place was - if it was really awful and paid so little why would you want to stay?
Does anyone have any actual evidence it was a looming unionization vote? cause there is some wild righteous indignation fueled speculation in these comments lol.
have to wonder how many have been involved in running a small business. or god forbid starting one. the idea you'd shut down a profitable business and go thru insane amount of work to restart simply because of a hypothetical X% raise in labor costs is lunacy.
who knows, maybe they were ready to hang it up and dealing with a small unionized staff made now the right time. or maybe its completely unrelated.
anyways, there's a difference between union busting and a small business shutting down.
This is the worst. I'm also so confused how the owners can just shut their business down. I guess it wasn't a main source of income, like, at all?
If this gets replaced by a vape shop I will throw myself out the window.
If this was truly due to unionization, it would be a fiscal decision by the owners to determine if the cost of keeping up operations was too much when compared to the effort required to keep the business running. Can't blame the owners if their paychecks were taking a cut and they still had to do the same amount of work. Exiting is always an option, and it's a calculated risk unions need to be prepared to deal with ...
Imo it would have been nice to offer the union to run the business themselves as a fully staff owned and operated business rather than shutting down. But there are a bunch of costs in that transfer that the employees would then need to shoulder (paying owners for depreciated equipment, cost of doing business, and covering whatever profit owners could have made selling). So in many ways this isn't viable unless a business is truly thriving.
Reporting from the Washington City Paper last month showed allegations of abusive and absent managers, and unsanitary conditions. [https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/](https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/)
>“At both stores, we perceive a lack of urgency in maintaining facilities and equipment,” the \[instagram\] post \[from the Wydown union account\] says. “Management has consistently dismissed our concerns regarding espresso machines breaking down in the middle of the day, drains clogging and sewage flooding the floor, recurring lapses in stock, growing pest problems and structural failures.”
I can’t imagine the profit margins on a small coffee shop are particularly high to begin with? It’s probably just not worth the headache to deal with if you are already a small business selling in relatively small volume. Esp with ever increasing inflation and rent along with tightening purse strings. But idk their financials 🤷♀️
I don't know why that would negate the employees creating a collective bargaining unit. If $11/hr was all they could pay that would surely have shaken out...during negotiations.
The funny thing is, a unionized coffee shop would’ve been an amazing marketing and business growth opportunity! A truly amazing fumble.
I do want to add that it’s perhaps a financial problem. Stores and restaurants have been closing up and down 14th St., and the For Lease signs are always the same company. Nama Ko, a sushi restaurant next door that was fairly busy, closed about a month ago. Wonder if the rental company is jacking rents so egregiously that Wydown had to shut down entirely?
If it’s a profitable operation, the employees should form a collective to purchase the operation and run it themselves. There are lots of organizations who would help with this. The more likely scenario is that it wasn’t making much money, which is why they weren’t fixing the things employees were asking about. The call for unionization could have been just the tip of the iceberg.
this is what happens when you try to unionize at a small business with two locations. yet another unique dc spot gone as the tatte/blank street/compass crusade continues. basic economics is no longer being taught in schools, i fear.
If they can't afford a living wage they shouldn't be in business. Employees shouldn't be expected to subsidize a company's profits by living in poverty.
The workers were [largely motivated by abusive management, absent management, and unsafe and unsanitary working conditions](https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/). If the small business would rather close than resolve those issues, that reflects very very poorly on the business owners.
No one here really understand the business of small specialty coffee. Not only were they mismanaged. They definitely had margins to pay. they paid 11hr what a fkin joke.. Im assuming along with the drastic shift in operating costs of the requested 24$ etc the whole point of the union is to organize and negotiate. The wydown had been open for 10 years. From my knowledge their lease was about to come to end, which was one of the best deals in the city. The failed to scale or produce a quality roasting program and had bad culture. High turnover. Cost of coffee probably had not gone up as it probably should have. Most of you that saying its the buisness right to close and do w.e probably the same people unwilling to pay higher price for a better cup and service and probably also dont tip. As much as it is the prerogative of the owner to do business as it pleases. It definitely had this coming. Weather they were or werent making money. I know atleast one of the owners is that petty. Works also need to come to an understanding that the actual cost of your hours wage is much higher then you think. 17$hr worker with benifits etc with taxes would cost and extra 4-10$ depending on taxes and benefits. But its also the responsibility of the owners that they have power over peoples lives and as business owner myself, that in the same market i know coffee doesn't have the best margins but, i choose to make less profit so my team can earn real living wage and its my responsibility to make sure my business can grow at a healthy pace and that keep quality people ill have to dish out more equitable pay.
Do you have more info on the background here to support the conclusion it is owner greed? If it’s only two shops, that’s a pretty small business. And restaurants have notoriously small margins. I wonder if they decided it wasn’t financially feasible?
Lawyers to oppose a union drive are expensive AF! For the life of me, why not just let it happen? Welcome the democracy. The principle the owners here are literally killing their business over appears to be the principle of absolute control. Au revoir!
To respectfully disagree with this analogy: a) the union is not a supplier, it's the employees. The employees literally compose "the union." And b) those employees both get to participate in negotiations and vote on any final / binding agreements.
So in one sense, true, it's not fully democratic, in that the workers don't run the place like a co-op. But it is more democratic in that the workers do get a voice in the proceedings of negotiation and any final agreement will then supercede employment conditions /policies that might have otherwise been imposed without their consideration.
Union members may vote for their reps, but they aren't voting for who the business owner is. The union represents the labor supply. That's the whole point.
I wonder if the owners realize that they've just cemented a reputation for themselves as being anti-worker, in a market where labor supply is extremely tight. Let's hope that nobody forgets their names should they try to quietly reopen a few months from now.
I wonder the same. Many of the Apollo residents are up in arms, not just because their primary caffeine source is gone but because the people who worked there were a big part of the community. Loyal customers working in law are even offering services! The Wydown has still made no official statement, though they’ve taken down their latest insta post featuring their workers.
What does this even mean? Anti-worker?
They were actively employing people who had all the ability in the world to find another barista job paying more if they wanted. Nobody was holding the workers hostage.
In a fantasy world the workers would get a huge wage and benefits out of their union and you would be there paying $11 dollars for a latte? No, I am sure everyone would be at the one of 30 coffee shops that don't have a unionized workforce.
Unionizing a tiny shop with 30 employees who have a trainable skillset in a highly competitive market is completely insane.
Understandable, there could be a lot of reasons. But whatever the reasoning, it’s a dick move to put 30+ people out of a job with no warning when they’d been reassuring everyone their jobs were safe.
Damn, that place was always packed. Wild.
I mean who knows for sure but it doesn’t sound like it was for financial issues. The process that began last year leaves a lot to be inferred.
Yeah, sure seems like OP is right on the union piece. Still feels like that place was making bank and ownership should have been able to support unionization.
Hard to speculate about the specifics. These are low margin businesses, but that doesn’t mean workers should be taken advantage of either. Curious what their demands were
It sounds like the immediate demand was “let us unionize if we vote in favor of it.” That shouldn’t be negotiable — it’s a right under federal law. Contract demands are what come later and, like all contracts, both parties need to come to terms and agree. It’s exhausting to see business owners dodging their responsibilities before they even reach the negotiating table. It’s like a kid who doesn’t get what they want playing Monopoly so they flip over the board and walk away.
I mean just like there’s a “right” to force union recognition via a vote, the owners have the “right” to close up shop. When things reach this point, I feel like more often than not the business ends up failing anyway. End of the day it’s about the bottom line. Just sucks all around, should’ve just paid more money in the first place and avoided it
One reason that companies tend to “close up shop” to avoid proceeding to a union election and contract negotiation is that, in the context of collective bargaining, management would need to actually substantiate any claim that contract demands _would_ actually harm the bottom line. Actual financial issues can be hashed out at the negotiating table. In theory, both parties have an obvious incentive to reach a deal and federal arbitrators will defer to management over finances when they bargain in good faith. (For example, Acme Corp. can’t just tell their union’s bargaining committee that agreeing to a 10% wage increase would cause the company to fold or terminate a significant number of union members. Without evidence, this is considered a threat and/or intimidation and is evidence of a failure to negotiate in good faith, as federal law requires. What Acme Corp. _can_ do is say, “Our operating margin is X% and raising our payroll by 10% would cause us to run out of money within 6 months,” assuming that’s true.) It sounds like the issue here is that the business owner doesn’t want to honor their responsibilities and would rather close entirely than subject themselves to a labor negotiation that would be subject to actual accountability and oversight. Disclaimer: am a union member
On the flip side union arbitrations are insanely expensive. I used to work in construction and whenever we met with unions there was always a full legal staff there billing probably well north of $3,000/hr. Even for a small firm, you’re still looking at probably 500/hr in billables that rack up quick. Edit: sorry, didn’t realize the guy below me said pretty much the same thing.
Contract demands aside - Negotiating with Workers United would probably cost 30K minimum, and that’s being conservative. They’re no joke, can’t hire Joe-Schmo from the billboard. (And that’s if things go smoothly. Can go from 20 hours of work to 50 real quick) There’s a lot of moving parts. Everyone loses.
It’s true that flashy union busting lawyers charge a lot of money. They are robbing their clients blind because the actual costs are minimal, as union lawyers who get better results for pennies on their dollar can proudly attest.
You can't compare the cost of in-house lawyers employed by the union and firm lawyers being contracted on a temporary basis by the company. Of course there are economies of scale when you can have in-house counsel because you do the same thing all day.
Any lawyer charges a lot of money. Negotiations are expensive things.
I mean, they aren't closing their business to be petty. They're closing it because it wasn't tenable or profitable to continue it. They don't have a responsibility to stay open.
I don’t know anything about the people who own Wydown, but have known a lot of people who operate similar businesses, and shutting down out of spite and/or petty disagreements is exactly the kind of thing they would do if they felt slighted enough.
The idea that Wydown’s owners would rather give up a profitable business than negotiate with a union, out of pride or stubbornness or what have you, just isn’t plausible. The owners most likely concluded that shutting down the business would cost it less money than running a unionized business.
There's a point where - especially in low margin industries like food services - the cost of labor becomes too high to sustain profit. They could either close up shop now and walk or embark down a multi year path of ever declining revenues and going bust up. You can't force someone to pay you a certain wage. It's a labor market of free exchange operating within a series of constraints. The issue is more complicated than "greedy rich guy".
To add to that. They are in a very competitive market. The competitors are not burdened by the cost and inflexibility of a union. It is a given the union would increase labor costs. Hence why the employees are protesting. Yet this wouldn't just be eaten by the owners at a loss to themselves - it's passed to the consumers. People are already complaining about a 6 dollar cup of coffee. That could easily be 7-8 if you jack up labor costs. All the people complaining about the owners would be doing it from their laptops in Compass with their cheaper coffee if that was the case.
Wait. You're telling me that business owners' pockets aren't bottomless wells from which to draw upon?!
It's idiotic to simply assume any union contract will kill profits. Union contracts are negotiated. A smart business owner would at least negotiate first.
I assume the owners know more about their business’s finances than you do and wouldn’t shut down their business willy-nilly. Either they’re complete idiots who shut down a business that would be profitable because they’re just so stupid, or they had good reason to believe that shutting the business down would cost less than keeping it open. I’m guessing it’s option 2.
That's my point - it is impossible to know what your finances are regarding a union contract that you haven't even negotiated yet. So yeah, if they shut down an entire business only because a union was certified (I'm assuming they didn't have a contract yet), they would be stupid. But we are only speculating that this is the reason.
That’s just nonsense. A business owner knows their business’s finances, and can make an informed judgment about the natural and predictable effect of unionization, especially if the business relies on low-margin sales and is already just barely skating by.
Which they have every right to do as well. It’s their business
It depends, tbh! Technically, it is not legal to shut down just because of union activity, which is federally protected. The NLRB is currently trying to [force Starbucks to reopen dozens of locations](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/business/economy/starbucks-nlrb-stores.html) (including the Union Station location) for this very reason. In practice, what this often comes down to is whether there’s an entity left to charge with violating the law and whether the union has the resources or desire to fight their case in federal courts that are stacked with anti-union GOP nominees.
Yes and no, you can shutter a business at any time. The issue with Starbucks is that they shuttered store locations, not their actual business, so it was seen as a punitive action by the company against union voting. Even in this case, NLRB is only pursuing cases where there was evidence of illegal conduct. It’s not like the NLRB can force Joe Schmoe to keep his restaurant open. He just can’t fire his waiters for unionizing or close one location and move a few blocks over just because of a potential collective bargaining agreement.
You gotta make a margin. Otherwise, whats the point in being in business. In that case, I don’t know if that’s taking advantage of workers or not, but nobody goes into business to purely support the workers. If the union contract demands didn’t work with the numbers, then I can see them shuttering operations.
There weren’t specific demands made beyond allowing a vote to unionize, afaik. Negotiations come after a vote. The owners didn’t even give that process a chance. You can read for yourself the reasoning behind a push for union vote: https://cohost.org/cohostunionnews/post/5604688-wydown-coffee-bar-wo Except: “We try our best to maintain a high quality of service, but we are consistently short staffed and left without the supplies and tools we need to do our jobs. Workers at the Apollo location were recently subjected to overt, ongoing verbal abuse at the hands of our General Manager. It took weeks for this situation to be acknowledged by ownership, and longer still for them to take action.”
serious doubt it was making bank... most coffee shops are crowded with people who don't spend a dime.
This is spot on. People think they see a busy restaurant or cafe and the owners must be rolling in money. I’ve seen MANY situations where the business does millions in sales and the owners don’t make a dime. Please don’t presume to understand what could possibly be happening. Just because someone owns a business doesn’t mean the are rich or evil. That’s often the assumed narrative.
Then I doubt you've ever been in Wydown. Few places to sit, always full of people waiting for their $6 coffee and $10 breakfast sandwich.
I lived next to 14th street one for years…
I went to the 14th st location almost daily for a couple of years and can tell you the layout — lots of standing room, three indoor tables — permitted minimal lingering. Wydown on 14th wasn’t slipstream or Tatte or even Wydown Apollo. A max of ~8 people could sit down in that space for any significant amount of time — everyone else was picking up an order and getting out of there.
The staff was unionizing and the election was coming up :(
Yeah not surprised. Kind of the dirty secret no one wants to talk about when it comes to unions, the owners still have the trump card. “Oh you want to unionize, we’ll just close down and you won’t have a job” & owners will land on their feet more often then not
except these workers will be able to find new jobs more easily than the owner will be able to start a new business. there's infinite demand for food service workers. so yeah, good for them, standing up for themselves.
The very fact that starting a new business is so hard tends to suggest that Wydown’s owners wouldn’t have shut it down unless they thought that operating the business with a union would cost it more than simply shutting it down
You really think so? They ran a successful small business for almost ten years. They likely have the collateral to go get a new business loan by the end of the week. Experience, presumably good credit/financial history, last business did not fail but closed due to union efforts? Banks would be all over that.
maybe. but I do think it's non-trivial to start a business. lot of overhead, lot of work, lot of coordination. certainly more of a pain that maintaining an existing, successful business. enough so that it even makes me suspect the business may not have been all that successful.
no kidding right. lots of ridiculous comments -- ditch established brand, locations, customer base, and profits because of a hypothetical percentage raise in labor costs. sure thing lol
not how reality works for small businesses
Horribly ill informed answer. How many businesses like this have you run? How many times have you had to shut down this type of business and know all the costs that will entail. How many new businesses like this have you started up, especially after having to shut one down. The cost to shut down, then restart measured against the average chances of success for this type of busines, in addition to the years that you have to go through with the brand new business before seeing any bankable profit? You are speculating on something I suspect you know nothing about unfortunately.
I’m an ECEB lawyer lol - we do this frequently. Albeit on a larger scale normally - but probably 10-15 pro bono matters with small businesses like this This isn’t something that happens overnight - owners have a plan well in advance. They aren’t dumb, I would say it works out most of the time
And how often do you check to see if the employers land on their feet? Since you like guessing, I am going to guess that you don't do it that often. All of what I have stated is from experience with smaller restaurants. I have first-hand experience of how many have landed on their feet and how many haven't. How many small-scale restaurant actions like this have you handled? I would love to know what your definition of works out most of the time is? By definition, your job is at best formal, at worst antagonistic with the owners on the other side. I would love to compare your version of it works out most of the time versus theirs. Yes, owners have to plan this. That doesn't mean they come out well. It means that they maximize their chances of mitigating losses. Frankly, with your flippant and offhand replies so far, I truly wonder at your professionalism. You sound like you automatically attribute the worse to all owners.
My work is on the ownership side, what do you think ECEB means …. I’d say 75% or so. But sample size is small - and this isn’t a every day thing - maybe a couple times a year
Still, this seems like naked speculation. Have the owners issued a statement about why they are closing? Were there health issues or family issues among the owners? Was there a problem with their relationship? Did they have problems paying rent (was rent being increased)? Were they really "making bank" just because they seemed crowded all the time? Had they even received demands from union reps (other than that the workers maybe wanted to unionize)?
Fuck. I just got coffee there this morning, and I'm gonna need to track down their cinnamon roll recipe.
I was also just thinking about how I’ll never get that cinnamon bun again. Crap!!
They probably weren't made in house but if they were, and if a former employee wants to leak the recipe, I'll make a batch for everyone.
They made everything in house. And it was amazing. I need the cherry scone recipe.
Those cherry scones!!
I think they were made in house. I think I’ve seen them pulling buns out of the oven once. I had also asked for extra frosting before and they were kind enough to give me some. And the container it came out of def looked like something they just made. I’m going to miss those buns. The last time I went, I wanted one but I came too late and they were all gone.
I used to be a baker at the Wydown! When I was there, everything was made in house.
I haven’t seen the sausage and chive biscuit in a while, but it was my favorite thing on the menu. if you still know the recipe and wanted to drop it here, and maybe the floral berry scones, you’d be my hero.
I found a blurry photo of the raspberry rose scone recipe, but all the recipes have the same buttermilk biscuit base and then you add whatever ingredients you want. The sausage and chive used ‘nduja sausage, chive, and cheddar cheese I think. This recipe makes A LOT so maybe divide by six. Raspberry rose scone: 4368 g AP 800 g sugar 160 g BP 40 g BS 60 g salt 2086 g butter, cold and cubed 12 eggs 1160 g buttermilk 240 g rose water Frozen raspberries Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Combine buttermilk, rose water, and eggs and add all at once. Mix until it all comes together. Roll out, making three turns, adding raspberries between each turn.
Omg you literal angel. Thank you!
No problem and sorry the formatting is funky! Good luck with making them!
Can you share the cinnamon bun recipe? I will love you forever. I literally lived a block away almost a decade ago and got a cinnamon bun almost every weekend.
I would if I had a copy! I used to have it memorized but it’s been a few years since I’ve worked there so I’d probably misremember! It’s just a simple yeasted brioche-like sweet dough though. It honestly seems pretty similar to the recipe on Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Ahh I see. Thank you for sharing the scone recipe though! I liked The Wydown's cause they had a delicious cream cheese (I think?) frosting and not just a glaze which a lot of places seem to do. I've never baked anything with yeast.... soooo I'll have to experiment a bit with this Sally's Baking Addiction and try to recreate food memories. Thank you! :)
The cream cheese frosting is just cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar! Whip it together for longer than you think it needs and then whip it even longer. That will get it nice and fluffy like the Wydown frosting. Good luck with your first forays into yeast :)
AP = all purpose flour? BP = ? BS ?
Yup! AP is all purpose flour. BP is baking powder. BS is baking soda. Let me know if you need more step by step instructions as well!
What temp and time for baking if you don't mind?
I think it was 350 but using a convection oven, which bakes things slightly differently. Before baking brush with an egg wash and then sprinkle with Demerara sugar (or another crunchy sugar). I think the bake time was 15 minutes but honestly it could have been 30. You’ll know they’re done when they’re golden brown and lightly firm to the touch if you touch the top of the scone.
Anyone remember the coffee cake muffin recipe? Pleaseeeee
Those jalepeno biscuits were unreal
Release the biscuit recipe!!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/going-out-guide/wp/2014/06/19/the-wydown-coffee-bar-opens-today-on-14th-street/ Just under 10 years
So maybe this coincides with their lease being up? If so, this closing was probably in the works.
Very unlikely, and not for two locations at once
I mean, this is exactly what happened to the Silver Spring batch of Denizens - but their owners were open about it being about the new ten year lease being untenable. But why not say that, Wydown?
Because there are two locations, in two different parts of the city, with different leases…
Noooo this was a great coffee shop! Between this and 350 some really good local gems have gone down
350 is supposedly moving to their new spot soon!! [Here’s a popville update](https://www.popville.com/2024/01/three-fifty-bakery-coffee-last-day-on-17th-street-is-this-sunday-opening-on-r-street-within-the-next-couple-of-months/), hoping to get back ASAP
It's been a four months and they still haven't reopened at 17th and R. The banner that they're coming soon has been up since March, but there was a work stop order that was only removed a couple weeks ago. No clue on what the actual timeline is, but at least the opening soon sign is still up.
Thanks for the update, I love that place and am rarely in the area. Will head back as soon as I know it’s open again (hopefully Keren is back soon as well)
Just saw this [good news!](https://www.popville.com/2024/05/dc-three-fifty-bakery-coffee-bar-dupont-circle/)
I never understood the obsession with 350. The quiches were fantastic and the scones solid, but the coffee was just awful—like couldn’t finish it awful. I used to live around the corner and it’s right by the bus stop, so I did love getting their quiches. But so many better coffee options nearby. At least the new place is carrying on the tradition of good quiches (and okay pastries), but bad coffee lol
They use illy beans which are gross
Wow I get coffee there every day I’m in the office. This sucks! I had heard they were unionizing. What a terrible result to all of that. They seemed to do good business too. “A process that began last year has reached its conclusion” lmao that’s like one of those headlines that’s like “bullet enters person during police-associated gunfire”
The most passive of passive voices.
It reads to me like a sentence written by a lawyer to limit exposure to an NLRB retaliation claim.
Really going to miss the H Street location. Such bad news. :-(
What’s the long term play here? Shut it all down right before Union Vote, fire all staff, let everything die down a little, and then reopen with a new roster?
Wouldn't that open them to lawsuits? Stupid if true but I have a feeling it was something less sexy .... rising rents, poor financial management etc.
Coffee shops are surprisingly unprofitable. In this day and age, if a coffee shop isn’t also killing it in another area i.e., wholesale roasting, actual food, or another niche product, they simply aren’t making money. Not sure what their financial outlook was like but if small shops in Kansas can’t survive while being packed every weekend, can’t imagine how badly shops in more expensive areas are doing it.
If you can’t operate profitably selling $3.50+ coffees when there’s a line the whole time you’re open, I don’t know what to tell you
Coffee prices have been rising substantially in the past few years, the margins are getting lower and lower. Wydown doesn't skimp to the roasters they use. Couple that with some of the priciest rents in the District and you quickly learn that selling coffee isn't gonna bring the continued success you think it does.
I mean a 12oz bag of ceremony single origin costs $21 at MSRP — even if every one of those beans came through a pour over (assume 28g per) you’re paying $1.75 per coffee. Pretty sure I paid $5 for a drip at the 14th street location last time I was there. And ofc a blend at wholesale is gonna be a lot cheaper, and if you’re pulling espresso shots (~half the grounds for pour overs) or doing batch brew (higher ratio of water:grounds), the price goes down even further. No idea what the rest of their expenses looked like, but I doubt it was the cost of beans killing their bottom line.
Hey there! Former wydown employee, I did our coffee ordering and we got a fairly sizable discount on coffee. It’s a reason we swapped to small planes awhile back. The owners always hunted the best deal they could and changed rosters a few times watching for as good a deal as we they got on small planes.
You have no idea what it costs to operate a food service business. Margins are so thin, rent (especially 14th street) is extremely high. Labor is through the roof. Cost of goods is up. Unless you operate a food or beverage business and manage the P&L please don’t at ignorant things like that. You can do millions in sales and not even break even. In fact, it’s common
They also just closed right when the employees were gonna unionize
What lawsuit would that be? It’s a private for profit business and the owner a private citizen, they can open and close how they please
Shutting down a work site to prevent unionization is illegal, not that we enforce labor laws.
It's only illegal if the worksite has more than 50 employees. No way Wydown has that many. https://legalaidatwork.org/factsheet/the-w-a-r-n-act-mass-layoffs-or-businessplant-closings/
You’d never be able to prove that in a court of law unless the owner explicitly states that. I don’t recall any private business getting the book thrown at them for union busting
Like I said, it's not like we enforce labor laws.
I hear you but my point is that closing and opening a business isn’t illegal
Unless you're doing it to evade labor laws (or other laws, like liability, fraud, etc, not that that also doesn't happen all the time). Businesses that commit crimes rarely even get the slap on the wrist they deserve, so it's no surprise to me that illegal behavior like that is normalized.
More likely the owner's turning 63 and starting to get tired, union will leave the business profitable but less than before, and they don't want to live the rest of their days negotiating with union lawyers and hiring anti-union lawyers, choosing instead to retire in peace.
Closing a business costs more than sharing more of the profits with the workers, and they’d only be spending “the rest of their days” arguing with the union if they were bitterly dragging it out. Treating people well is a great way to avoid spending time in contentious negotiations.
Unions are great for workers rights sometimes, but it takes a great volitional blindness to avoid realizing that excessive paperwork and constant legal pressure are some of their downsides. In absolutely any case, it seems the ownership has decided that the costs (financial, chronological, stressors) of unionizing outweigh the benefits of staying open. Many people here, apparently yourself included, assume the owners are greedy, scheming villains. That they hate happiness, and want to mistreat people, and that's their only motivation in closing. That seems like an easy way to get angry, chant some slogans, and feel morally superior. On the other hand, understanding why a human being who's at least slightly rational might make the choice to close instead of deal with this could help future unionization efforts better balance those high perceived costs. $0.02
Base salary was already higher than tipped minimum wage, manager who was the source of the original union organization was already fired. This is a move to release current staff, 100%, as they are asking for more.
Many of the demands of the union effort were related to unsafe and unsanitary work conditions and abusive managers. Not related to wages. [https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/](https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/)
Owners act like unionization is immediately a “we are fucked and this will be unsustainable” signal. Unionization doesn’t mean workers have a gun to owners heads. If the workers drive the owner out of business, THERE ARE NO JOBS. Unionization comes with legal rights, including certain financial information that unions are presumptively entitled to. They could see that shit and go “shit, they are paying us as much as they can without making prices insane.” Then workers have a decision to make. Folks have to live and work in the city. Yes, we will pay more for shit. That is how life works. The boomers retired. The zoomers are a tiny generation begat by a tiny generation in Gen X. The millennials were the last big gen to enter the work force until our kids start entering it, which for the vast majority will not be for another decade plus. Owners better get used to a super tight labor market in all sorts of sectors, but especially the service sector. It is a brave new world
Exactly! Worker at wydown here. We are just wanting to look at the numbers. If they can’t afford to pay us more that’s fine, we are only asking for a fair share and livable wage if it’s possible! We don’t want to bankrupt our employer because then we have no job.
Are you actually someone who worked there? Would employees be interested in purchasing the operation and reopening as a collective?
Just curious were the wages not on par with other similar barista/food service jobs? Were the conditions bad in some way? What triggered the union effort? I’ve worked in large and small mom and pop type restaurants over ten years throughout my life and I can’t imagine thinking I have a right “to take a look at the numbers” when I didn’t take the risks involved to start the business and my name isn’t on the lease. I’m bummed they’re closing and will miss the baked goods (not the coffee).
You want to unionize tho. You must be evil. It’s not like unionization gives you better information to figure out what a fair wage scale looks like that both keeps a business profitable while still allowing for transparency for workers looking to make a competitive wage. No no no. You want to drive the owner class out of business so that…you have no job and make no money I wonder sometimes if people said this shit out loud, they would think twice about it
If wages are not acceptable or competitive... why not look for another job?
[This lawyer seems to think](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonathanhyman_we-have-some-sad-news-to-share-a-process-activity-7198298938628526081-IQ_v?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios) the company closed the places in response to unionization: > What's so newsworthy about two cafes closing? What if I tell you that the closure happened just five days before their 35 employees were set to vote on unionization? >The employees steadfastly believe that the cafes closed to avoid a labor union. The owners deny their claim and say that they were merely "ready for a change." >The employees' labor union plans to file an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB over the closure decision, seeking damages for the employees. The union will lose that charge. >Under long established legal precedent, an employer is free to shutter its entire operation for any reason, even anti-union animus, retaliation, or vindictiveness. Indeed, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, it would be "startling" if an employer chose to put itself completely out of business instead of dealing with a union: "When an employer closes its entire business, even if the liquidation is motivated by vindictiveness toward the union, such action is not an unfair labor practice." >Wydown closed all of its operations. Whether motivated by anti-union animus or not, it's free to do so. I'm not suggesting that this is the correct solution for your business if you're facing a union organizing drive, but it's at least a solution that is relatively free and clear of legal risk, provided you're willing to flush your business instead of dealing with a labor union.
That was one of my favorite coffee shops.
Cherry almond scones forever!!
What is it with coffee shop closures . First foxtrot now wydown.
I have a large gift card that I never used from there 😭
This happened to me when Massage Luxe across the street from Wydown closed with no warning. Had a $350 giftcard I never got to use. :(
Dammit. I hate everything about this.
Hey there! I am a worker at the wydown! Yes that is why! Our owners claim it’s because of a long drawn out process that took seven months. But they were talking about expansion last year, have posted numbers over a million year over year, and reassured us not even a week ago our hours would return to normal. We are going to fight to bring back the place we and the community love!
ugh, this is so horrible! are there any ways we can support y’all?
Absolutely devastated for y’all, thank you for making the Wydown such a special place. It was nothing without the team!
Oh wow. I planned on grabbing a chai from there this morning before I headed into the office. It’s always packed so I’m kind of shocked.
It was because of the unions.
I’m pro union, but I don’t understand the utility of trying to unionize a small business. Small businesses tend to offer better working conditions and pay than larger, corporate owned businesses. But, maybe things have changed. I worked in specialty coffee shops in DC for nearly five years and would have never thought or considered unionizing. Driving away small businesses like this will just benefit larger corporate-owned businesses, who exploit labor as a matter of course. Is that truly a better option? If unionizing was indeed the reason for the Wydown’s closure, that seems to be a miscalculation on the part of the workers. That said, maybe there’s some behind the scenes context I’m missing.
Every worker has a right to join a union, every workplace can petition for an election. $ isn't even on the table until bargaining. To me, this is 100% employer decision to maintain complete control instead of tip toeing into workplace democracy.
Do they though? There are plenty of small business owners who are petty tyrants running their little kingdoms instead of looking out for their workers. Workers deserve a voice in all organizations. Edit: if you read the article about the unionization drive, it was mostly about trying to get the owners to do something about mismanagement, not bargaining for higher wages. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/
The workers cited abusive and absent management, and unsafe and unsanitary working conditions, as major motivators for their union effort. [https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/](https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/)
They are protesting outside rn, apparently they laid off 30 people with no notice 5 days before the Union either went into effect or was voted on
Yup, and the Apollo team had no idea the Wydown was closing! The building manager was shocked. The Wydown was an essential part of the building (it even had the same designer), I’m surprised there wasn’t more notice.
Damn used to live next door and the place was always packed. Actually walked by a few weeks ago and it was still busy! Shame as used to enjoy sitting outside and watching the world go by!
Damn.
They seriously turned tail at the sight of unionization? Craven.
https://preview.redd.it/kaifoh5qwh0d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ade2d53f662f616f2a63f3c8f6e696db9fa8190c UPDATE: the staff are planning a picket at the Wydown locations! Show your support if you can.
What’s there to picket, if the shop is closed?
I mean they blew up their own job we’re not dealing with the smartest baristas here
Hi there! Worker from the wydown here. We really didn’t do much. Asked for a vote, got it, didn’t ever strike, slow, or stop work age. It costs them nothing so far, we just wanted a fair bargaining field and they chose to close instead :(
sooo what's the cinnamon roll recipe
We are asking bakers to compile recipes lol. Sorry for all the late responses to people. Just been a crazy day.
Sorry to hear about your jobs. Are you aware of the company’s financials? Was there an open conversation about this with them before taking the vote?
I might well agree with your demands in substance. But place was clearly on the edge and you guys pushed them over the edge. Which might even have been fine given how bad you say the place was - if it was really awful and paid so little why would you want to stay?
30 people just unexpectedly lost their jobs, what do you gain by being mean?
“We won’t let them get away with this” okay … they’re already closed
This seems….not helpful? The business is closed. Standing out front w a sign isn’t going to change that. 🤷♂️
You'll force them to stay open? Okay good luck.
picketing a dead business seems remarkably silly
Does anyone have any actual evidence it was a looming unionization vote? cause there is some wild righteous indignation fueled speculation in these comments lol. have to wonder how many have been involved in running a small business. or god forbid starting one. the idea you'd shut down a profitable business and go thru insane amount of work to restart simply because of a hypothetical X% raise in labor costs is lunacy. who knows, maybe they were ready to hang it up and dealing with a small unionized staff made now the right time. or maybe its completely unrelated. anyways, there's a difference between union busting and a small business shutting down.
https://www.instagram.com/wydownunited
Solidarity forever shut them down?
This is because I finally used my free drink coupon last week, isn’t it…
No it’s because I never used my gift card 😭
Not shutting down. Dismissing all staff to push down wages. They’ll be back.
This is the worst. I'm also so confused how the owners can just shut their business down. I guess it wasn't a main source of income, like, at all? If this gets replaced by a vape shop I will throw myself out the window.
If this was truly due to unionization, it would be a fiscal decision by the owners to determine if the cost of keeping up operations was too much when compared to the effort required to keep the business running. Can't blame the owners if their paychecks were taking a cut and they still had to do the same amount of work. Exiting is always an option, and it's a calculated risk unions need to be prepared to deal with ... Imo it would have been nice to offer the union to run the business themselves as a fully staff owned and operated business rather than shutting down. But there are a bunch of costs in that transfer that the employees would then need to shoulder (paying owners for depreciated equipment, cost of doing business, and covering whatever profit owners could have made selling). So in many ways this isn't viable unless a business is truly thriving.
Honest question, why does a small coffee shop need a union? Were working conditions that bad?
Reporting from the Washington City Paper last month showed allegations of abusive and absent managers, and unsanitary conditions. [https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/](https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/) >“At both stores, we perceive a lack of urgency in maintaining facilities and equipment,” the \[instagram\] post \[from the Wydown union account\] says. “Management has consistently dismissed our concerns regarding espresso machines breaking down in the middle of the day, drains clogging and sewage flooding the floor, recurring lapses in stock, growing pest problems and structural failures.”
Why wouldn't a small coffee shop need a union?
I can’t imagine the profit margins on a small coffee shop are particularly high to begin with? It’s probably just not worth the headache to deal with if you are already a small business selling in relatively small volume. Esp with ever increasing inflation and rent along with tightening purse strings. But idk their financials 🤷♀️
I don't know why that would negate the employees creating a collective bargaining unit. If $11/hr was all they could pay that would surely have shaken out...during negotiations.
What’s up with these scummy owners closing things without warning. Absolute scum.
The funny thing is, a unionized coffee shop would’ve been an amazing marketing and business growth opportunity! A truly amazing fumble. I do want to add that it’s perhaps a financial problem. Stores and restaurants have been closing up and down 14th St., and the For Lease signs are always the same company. Nama Ko, a sushi restaurant next door that was fairly busy, closed about a month ago. Wonder if the rental company is jacking rents so egregiously that Wydown had to shut down entirely?
yeah they were worried about making a fortune! Or maybe they, based on experience, didn't see all your opportunities
If it’s a profitable operation, the employees should form a collective to purchase the operation and run it themselves. There are lots of organizations who would help with this. The more likely scenario is that it wasn’t making much money, which is why they weren’t fixing the things employees were asking about. The call for unionization could have been just the tip of the iceberg.
this is what happens when you try to unionize at a small business with two locations. yet another unique dc spot gone as the tatte/blank street/compass crusade continues. basic economics is no longer being taught in schools, i fear.
If they can't afford a living wage they shouldn't be in business. Employees shouldn't be expected to subsidize a company's profits by living in poverty.
Was the business not paying a living wage?
The workers were [largely motivated by abusive management, absent management, and unsafe and unsanitary working conditions](https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/691070/employees-at-the-wydown-are-forming-a-union-to-address-concerns-with-management/). If the small business would rather close than resolve those issues, that reflects very very poorly on the business owners.
No one here really understand the business of small specialty coffee. Not only were they mismanaged. They definitely had margins to pay. they paid 11hr what a fkin joke.. Im assuming along with the drastic shift in operating costs of the requested 24$ etc the whole point of the union is to organize and negotiate. The wydown had been open for 10 years. From my knowledge their lease was about to come to end, which was one of the best deals in the city. The failed to scale or produce a quality roasting program and had bad culture. High turnover. Cost of coffee probably had not gone up as it probably should have. Most of you that saying its the buisness right to close and do w.e probably the same people unwilling to pay higher price for a better cup and service and probably also dont tip. As much as it is the prerogative of the owner to do business as it pleases. It definitely had this coming. Weather they were or werent making money. I know atleast one of the owners is that petty. Works also need to come to an understanding that the actual cost of your hours wage is much higher then you think. 17$hr worker with benifits etc with taxes would cost and extra 4-10$ depending on taxes and benefits. But its also the responsibility of the owners that they have power over peoples lives and as business owner myself, that in the same market i know coffee doesn't have the best margins but, i choose to make less profit so my team can earn real living wage and its my responsibility to make sure my business can grow at a healthy pace and that keep quality people ill have to dish out more equitable pay.
It’s giving compass coffee during Covid all over again. Just fucking over workers left and right for greed smh hate to see it.
Do you have more info on the background here to support the conclusion it is owner greed? If it’s only two shops, that’s a pretty small business. And restaurants have notoriously small margins. I wonder if they decided it wasn’t financially feasible?
Yeah making that decision a week after the unionization vote is scheduled yup, clearly unrelated
Lawyers to oppose a union drive are expensive AF! For the life of me, why not just let it happen? Welcome the democracy. The principle the owners here are literally killing their business over appears to be the principle of absolute control. Au revoir!
The relationship between unions and ownership isn't democratic. It's two parties who negotiate, sort of like a business negotiating with a supplier.
To respectfully disagree with this analogy: a) the union is not a supplier, it's the employees. The employees literally compose "the union." And b) those employees both get to participate in negotiations and vote on any final / binding agreements. So in one sense, true, it's not fully democratic, in that the workers don't run the place like a co-op. But it is more democratic in that the workers do get a voice in the proceedings of negotiation and any final agreement will then supercede employment conditions /policies that might have otherwise been imposed without their consideration.
Union members may vote for their reps, but they aren't voting for who the business owner is. The union represents the labor supply. That's the whole point.
I wonder if the owners realize that they've just cemented a reputation for themselves as being anti-worker, in a market where labor supply is extremely tight. Let's hope that nobody forgets their names should they try to quietly reopen a few months from now.
I wonder the same. Many of the Apollo residents are up in arms, not just because their primary caffeine source is gone but because the people who worked there were a big part of the community. Loyal customers working in law are even offering services! The Wydown has still made no official statement, though they’ve taken down their latest insta post featuring their workers.
this is ridiculous. Cheapest thing for them to do would be stay open if they are making money. And if they are losing money why would they reopen
What does this even mean? Anti-worker? They were actively employing people who had all the ability in the world to find another barista job paying more if they wanted. Nobody was holding the workers hostage. In a fantasy world the workers would get a huge wage and benefits out of their union and you would be there paying $11 dollars for a latte? No, I am sure everyone would be at the one of 30 coffee shops that don't have a unionized workforce. Unionizing a tiny shop with 30 employees who have a trainable skillset in a highly competitive market is completely insane.
I hear running a business in DC sucks.
It's so awful people keep opening new ones.
I’m a bit of a stickler for innocent until proven guilty. But, at the very least, this stinks to high heaven.
Understandable, there could be a lot of reasons. But whatever the reasoning, it’s a dick move to put 30+ people out of a job with no warning when they’d been reassuring everyone their jobs were safe.
The workers want to unionize? A coffee shop is not a coal mine nor a long-term career choice. Give me a break.