[BlutoSays]

Cambridge-based Darwin's coffee, sandwich shops closing after nearly 30 years

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. —

Four beloved, family-owned coffee and sandwich shops in Cambridge will be closing in the near future.

Steven and Isabel Darwin, co-founders of Darwin's Ltd., announced they will be retiring from the business after three decades.

The first of their shops to close will be the location on Mt. Auburn Street, which was already slated to close prior to the Darwins' decision to retire. A statement from the owners said it was because the lease is ending after 30 years and that shop will go dark on Nov. 22.

Closing dates for the other locations — on Cambridge Street, Mass. Ave. and Putnam Avenue — need to be determined with the union, an announcement said.

The closure comes a little more than a year after employees of Darwin's LTD announced their intent to form a union. The owners recognized the union and both sides were in the process of negotiating a contract when they reached this decision.

"We are disappointed the owner is closing, we’re trying to work with him to keep stores opened, and were shocked that he decided to close," said Warren Pepicelli, the joint board manager from the NEJB, which is representing Darwin's employees.

Pepicelli said the unionized employees were seeking $24 per hour wages, three weeks paid leave and health insurance with no deductibles.

Hat Tip: https://www.wcvb.com/article/darwins-co ... /41954777#

[late]

retiring

Good for them.

[ness31]

None of that seemed unreasonable to me, but I don’t understand the way the US does stuff sometimes.

[ingliz]

@BlutoSays

30 years of striving to be the good little capitalist must take its toll. Screwing the workers can't be fun, can it?

They deserve their retirement.

[Tainari88]

He should let the workers keep the brand name, give them the manager manual of how to run things. And retire. Let them share the profits and keep the business.

I think worker-owned cooperatives are best for most workers, especially in coffee shops, delis, and other types of businesses.

Most regular employees nowadays don't have enough for retirement. They got to keep working till they drop dead.

I had to come up with a retirement plan. Thank goodness it worked! But if it had not worked? I would have wound up having to keep working all the way until I got too ill and old to work anymore.

All my savings went to trying to keep my mother from dying from cancer. A lot of families go bankrupt when a family member falls ill without being insured well.

[late]

All my savings went to trying to keep my mother from dying from cancer. A lot of families go bankrupt when a family member falls ill without being insured well.

I have a family member that is recovering from surgery living with us. What lands people in bankruptcy court most often is illness wiping out their finances.

I'm lucky, the cost for us is not bad, but you know there will be a next time.

[BlutoSays]

He should let the workers keep the brand name, give them the manager manual of how to run things. And retire. Let them share the profits and keep the business.

I think worker-owned cooperatives are best for most workers, especially in coffee shops, delis, and other types of businesses.

Most regular employees nowadays don't have enough for retirement. They got to keep working till they drop dead.

I had to come up with a retirement plan. Thank goodness it worked! But if it had not worked? I would have wound up having to keep working all the way until I got too ill and old to work anymore.

All my savings went to trying to keep my mother from dying from cancer. A lot of families go bankrupt when a family member falls ill without being insured well.

If you want to take out a loan/mortgage on the four locations and assume the payroll and payoff the owners, you're free to do so. You'll have to move fast.

https://api.thecrimson.com/article/2022 ... locations/


The Darwin's are excercising their right to liquidate their private property and move on.

But hey, the yoonyen and its worker's WON and that's what's important.

[Tainari88]

If you want to take out a loan/mortgage on the four locations and assume the payroll and payoff the owners, you're free to do so. You'll have to move fast.

https://api.thecrimson.com/article/2022 ... locations/


The Darwin's are excercising their right to liquidate their private property and move on.

But hey, the yoonyen and its worker's WON and that's what's important.

Conditions change as everything changes.

People want decent working conditions. If you can't give them that they move on. Nothing mysterious about that.

[BlutoSays]

Conditions change as everything changes.

People want decent working conditions. If you can't give them that they move on. Nothing mysterious about that.

You cannot say that their working conditions before were not decent. Just because a union moves in and decides to obviate market economics doesn't mean it would have been sustainable.

Put your money where your keyboard is. Take it over and give the workers $24 an hour and all their other demands, while balancing the decisions of customers on price point. Do eeet.

[ness31]

I’m trying to figure out what 24 dollars an hour equates to in my money to make a comparison. But that’s hard to do because I don’t know the cost of living etc.

[BlutoSays]

I’m trying to figure out what 24 dollars an hour equates to in my money to make a comparison. But that’s hard to do because I don’t know the cost of living etc.

You mean today or 24 months ago?


The best measure would be to take three or four measured raw goods that consumers need and compare an average no-name brand.

Like five pounds of flour or sugar, sacks of standard concrete, or a standard block of aluminium by weight. It's not perfect, but it gets you closer to accuracy than some other things.

Edit: you have to do it in big amounts (lots) to get better accuracy of the wholesale price across the two countries.

[Drlee]

I am not sure what Bluto is going on about. People retire everyday. Well they do now. In 30 years it will be very unusual for someone to retire. They certainly are not going to save for retirement on $15.00 per hour. Of course they are not paying shit for Social Security at that rate either nor will they get much when the time comes.

But Bluto's solution is to do away with minimum wage and unions. No doubt he wants to do away with Social Security too. Most of the less intelligent Republicans do. But never fear. Billionaire Donald Trump will save them.

Honestly. It is a good thing Bluto posts here so people can see what this garbage is all about.

But the people are wise. They said "no" to Trump and his ilk in 2020. They did it again last week. Texas and Arizona are now officially majority Latino. So let's recap:

The Republican Party is shrinking. The Democratic party and Independents are growing. The Democratic party is now much bigger than the Republican. Gerrymandering just got way harder in Arizona and other states where the governor or one house of the state legislature flipped blue. In fact, the only states where Republicans won were those where they were running in new or heavily gerrymandered districts.

Now the Republicans have the house by a margin so small that they will not be able to run an agenda at all. The idiot wing of the Republican Party, the so-called Freedom Caucus, will push the party to the far right leaving moderates either to do nothing or throw in with Democrats.

My party is in deep trouble and it is trouble of its own making. I am virtually certain that 2024 will be a Blue wave. The economy will be coming out of the current issues, Trump will have eviscerated whoever beats him in the primary (even if Trump is in jail he will have done his damage) and the House, looking like obstructionist do-nothings. 2024 is not going to be pretty for Republicans.