Gorilla Coffee on Strike

There's going to be throngs of sleepy eyed hipsters lost and wandering aimlessly on 5th now

Mamacita wrote: There's going to be throngs of sleepy eyed hipsters lost and wandering aimlessly on 5th now

That's no way to talk about their staff.

Great coffee. Shitty 'way cooler than everyone else here' laissez-faire service there anyway.

FIPS has this quote from one of the owners:

"I can tell you this: last night the entire Gorilla Coffee store staff demanded that one of the business partners be removed. If that happened, they would stay. That was an unreasonable request. As of today, no one has shown up for their scheduled shifts."

IMHO, for the employees to unanimously agree to walk away from their jobs in this economy, the conditions and treatment must have been truly awful.

they sell gorilla coffee beans at bierkraft on 5th avenue too...

Honestly, I can't stand the workers there, and I can imagine that the bosses need to be tough to run the kind of business they want. I have stopped going there after being treated invisibly by numerous staff members. I stopped in a few weeks ago, ordered an iced coffee and the douche behind the counter did not once provide eye contact or stop his conversation with some girl sitting on the side. When he went to give me change, he didn't even look to see where my hand was, he just dumped it into thin air. And then, not even an apology or a thanks for your business.

If I were the owners, I would find nicer more professional employees and start over. People go there for the coffee, not the staff. They will not lose any business because a handful of hipsters with no manners were replaced.

The best way to avoid toxic workplaces like Gorilla Coffee in the first place is to do research about potential bosses on sites like eBossWatch.

darcyfan wrote: Honestly, I can't stand the workers there, and I can imagine that the bosses need to be tough to run the kind of business they want. I have stopped going there after being treated invisibly by numerous staff members. I stopped in a few weeks ago, ordered an iced coffee and the douche behind the counter did not once provide eye contact or stop his conversation with some girl sitting on the side. When he went to give me change, he didn't even look to see where my hand was, he just dumped it into thin air. And then, not even an apology or a thanks for your business.

If I were the owners, I would find nicer more professional employees and start over. People go there for the coffee, not the staff. They will not lose any business because a handful of hipsters with no manners were replaced.

Yes, the service could use some improvement, and you might have a point if it had been 1 or 2 or 4 employees that walked out... but when ALL of the employess walk out, that's sayin' somethin'.

I know they are sullen and irritating, I have had similar experiences there (especially irritating is the loud music they play sometimes). But remember, they are probably making minimum wage, which I believe is around 7.25? How much does your coffee order cost? They are making that an hour! So, for me personally, if a little 'tude helps them to make it through the day, I will accept that as part of the deal of their working for practically nothing (except, ironically, our tips).

I do think it is a weird aspect of the recession that people's expectations of minimum wage jobs have shifted from say, the early 90s, when such jobs were actually temporary. I think people expect more of crappy jobs these days, and so, while we would have put up with a shitty boss knowing there was a better job at the end of the summer or the year, these people don't have that luxury.

d_luxx wrote: IMHO, for the employees to unanimously agree to walk away from their jobs in this economy, the conditions and treatment must have been truly awful.

Agreed. I think the fact that the entire staff had the luxury of walking off the job like that is an indication that this job can't be their main gig. You must be one step off of the poverty line if a counter job at Gorilla is your main source of income.

"Just curious...where can I get a coffee in North Slope where the staff isn't rude ?"


cafe regular du nord on berkeley place between 6th and 7th....closer to 7th.

staff is really nice and coffee is superb.

Here's the statement of the coffee workers:

We the workers would have preferred to keep this between the people involved, thus our silence towards the press. However, we do feel it is important to clarify the situation for the friends and patrons of Gorilla Coffee. The issues brought up with the owners of Gorilla Coffee yesterday are issues that they have been aware of for some time. These issues which have repeatedly been brushed aside and ignored have created a perpetually malicious, hostile, and demeaning work environment that was not only unhealthy, but also, as our actions have clearly shown, unworkable.

Several staff left not only recently, but also in the past few years due to these issues. The staff was recently told that the business partner to whom these issues have been repeatedly attributed was no longer affiliated with the business, and the environment was going to change. For 6 weeks nothing was seen nor heard of this business partner. This separation changed the dynamic of the business so drastically one of the departed staff quit their other job to return with the understanding these changes were permanent, and those who had tendered their resignation, or were drafting it, decided to stay. When the business partner returned without explanation, staff approached the owner hoping to find out the reason for this sudden and unannounced return. Work environment and workplace issues aside, the workers collectively felt deceived and that they had been shown a lack of mutual respect. This only served to highlight and reemphasize the previously expressed concerns. As the staff was well aware, both through experience and through conversation with past employees, Gorilla Coffee has a history of this pattern repeating itself.

It should be emphasized that the intent of the meeting was above all to find a solution to this unhealthy situation, a solution which involved the maintenance of these improvements to the work environment, and that would prevent any future returns to the previous unhealthy dynamic. Above all the attitude of the staff involved in the meeting (who were representing the rest of the staff) was one of respect and positivity. A collective instant resignation was an agreed upon last resort and not a bargaining chip. It was simply that without change, we all felt unwilling to undergo another day in that environment. Hence, out of a collective feeling of self respect and job insecurity, the staff decided it would be in their best interest to find employment elsewhere.

This isn’t political and it isn’t a strike. The staff quit and the matter will not be resolved. It’s a matter of business, and a personal matter for each of the staff. Everyone at Gorilla Coffee, including the owners and the staff, are skilled, passionate, and hard working. It is unfortunate for everyone involved. The workers are grateful to the many wonderful patrons over the years, and we apologize that it was necessary to inconvenience them in this way. All we can say is “thank you for the support and all the best.”

Sincerely, The workers of Gorilla Coffee

belzjm wrote: "Just curious...where can I get a coffee in North Slope where the staff isn't rude ?"


cafe regular du nord on berkeley place between 6th and 7th....closer to 7th.

staff is really nice and coffee is superb.

I'll second that. Also, just across the border, Prospect Perk @ Sterling & Flatbush is very nice.

oh crap, what am I supposed to do with my nearly completely punched "Beans on the House" card? Free pound after buying ten my foot!

pitu wrote: WhyFi, I get Gorilla beans at Bierkraft pretty often, and they aren't a week old.

My wife didn't see any there, yesterday, but we did grab a pound at Joyce - 6 days old... livin' on the edge. After these beans are gone in a week, 9th Street Espresso, it is!