Gorilla Coffee Back Open, With Refinished Floors

After a mass employee resignation forced it to shut down for more than two weeks, Park Slope coffee shop Gorilla Coffee reopened today, with a new paint job and refinished floors. City Room saw customers getting their lattes and spoke to co-owner Darlene Scherer. She said the walkout was "unexpected" and that other neighbors and businesses were supportive of them, "From a business owner’s standpoint, we feel like we’re doing everything right: paying everyone well, and setting up health benefits and encouraging learning in coffee and sending people places and paying in full. So now we’re kind of just getting back to basics. I said to everybody, ‘Let’s learn about coffee and do a good job and be happy.’"

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By Jen Chung in Food on April 26, 2010 2:23 PM

Comments [rss]

NannyState

I can't wait to go back. I love the smell of tension!

squatch

she said "learn about coffee" TWICE

can i puke now?

they pour nothing better than an average cup, not that i'll ever go back...

usernamee

i live in the hood, and walked by 3 times today and peaked in. i can say that it definitely seemed significantly less busy than it normally does (did). each of the three times, i saw probably the fewest people i have ever seen inside that place at any time of the day ever.

of course, it could be due to the weather, or maybe people just don't realize they reopened yet, but i wonder if the walkout and closing will have a permanent negative effect on their business?

EricGewiz

#17 - Agreed. Blue Sky Bakery has superior muffins and other baked goods. Their coffee is solid, but Gorilla is much better.

yttrstein

Dear Darlene,

Try not to hire spoiled brat hipsters who think "slumming it" with their trust funds in rent stabilized apartments and working in a coffee shop is "cool".

They don't need the work. At all.

Longtime NYer

Walk 2 more blocks to Blue Sky bakery. Great coffee, insanely good baked stuff, nice people, as far as I know no mass employee walkouts.

mns

i hope people do not buy their coffee there. and i hope that another coffee shop opens nearby that can take away gorilla's business. businesses that treat their employees horribly deserve to fail.

YouWillLearn

You don't even fucking know anything about it except the whiny transplants that worked there whined amongst themselves and left since their parents are rich. How dare you accuse a business. So fucking ignorant.

NannyState

Yeah how dare anyone accuse a business: BusinessGod punishes!

YouWillLearn

You annoying, over commenting loser - I was saying that YOU shouldn't accuse a business if you have no idea about anything.

Professor_X

LOL! So, why did all of your employees walk out, did you talk like that to them?

TooTallJeff

lolwhut? It was one of the owners/managers causing headaches for the employees. It's not like they walked out because they didn't get free massages and mani/pedis on their off days.

TooTallJeff

Is Darlene Scherer the cause of the walkout, or was it the other co-owner who was the raging bitch?

xgeyiph772

If that were the case, Gothamist would have closed years ago (only kidding guys ;)

fosiacat

the fact that they were able to re-hire employees after an employee-wide walkout is a testament to the current state of the economy.

Professor_X

Maybe they special ordered themselves a boatload of illegals whose English vocabulary consists entirely of coffee drink names.

longacre

Or maybe the schmucks who walked out realized they're only qualified to be baristas and not brain surgeons or astronauts.

Professor_X

I'd only buy a cup if the barristas can speak freely and tell me that they are not being abused. Without fear of repercussions.

They should hang up one of those work site signs: "We have been cruelty free for __01__ days!"