Earlier this month, when Portland artist Mike Bennett and an associate announced they would be taking over ownership of the North Portland cafe next door to Bennett’s immersive art experience Wonderwood, he assumed employees would be “excited.”
But former Wonderwood Springs employees weren’t happy at all, instead picketing the cafe Friday, saying they were pushed out and mistreated. The group is asking for severance from Coffee Business, the previous owners of the business, and an apology from Bennett.
The issues began at the meeting to announce the change in ownership.
According to Bennett, the coffee shop wasn’t doing well financially, and several weeks ago, he said, “The opportunity came up to take the keys or they probably wouldn’t make it to the end of the year.”
So, earlier this month, Coffee Business transferred ownership of Wonderwood Springs to Bennett and Teddy Albertson (Albertson was formerly employed by Sortis Holdings, the company that owns Coffee Business).
A former employee from a group calling themselves Wonderwood Springs Baristas United said that they believed Bennett had been actively working on purchasing the cafe since December. Bennett said he had been interested in taking over the cafe since December, but the opportunity to actually make that happen only presented itself in the last several weeks.
“While we have enjoyed being a part of the Wonderwood Springs project over the last 12 months, we have collectively agreed that the cafe will have the greatest benefit to the community in the hands of its artistic visionary, Mike Bennett,” a Coffee Business spokesperson said. “To that end, we have gifted ownership of the business directly to Mike Benett (this is a transition of ownership, not a sale).”
According to Bennett, he and Albertson met with the baristas as soon as they got approval from the landlords for the transfer of ownership.
“I went into that meeting thinking that everyone was going to be excited,” Bennett said.
But the meeting didn’t go as planned and the former baristas from Wonderwood Springs are now protesting the cafe and Bennett himself.
According to an Instagram post and a GoFundMe from Wonderwood Springs Baristas United, “none of the current staff will be kept on, and have been invited to apply for unemployment.”
The group isn’t unionized, but said they had been receiving support from local union representatives for the past two weeks.
“What went wrong for us was the lack of solid information,” said a member of the group who asked not to be named, answering questions on behalf of the baristas over Instagram. “When we tried to get a better sense of just how long the cafe would be closed, we couldn’t get an answer. One person said one to three weeks, another said two to three weeks, and another said four to six weeks.”
The Wonderwood Springs employees were told they wouldn’t be paid during the period when the cafe was closed.
The former employee said that Wonderwood Springs employees asked if they could work at Wonderwood, the immersive art experience next door. They said Bennett did not directly answer the question.
Bennett characterizes that meeting differently. He acknowledged that his ownership was going to bring changes to the struggling cafe – the difference, he said, between being independently owned by an artist and being owned by a corporation. He hoped to change things for the better.
Bennett also said Coffee Business employees would be paid out their paid time off by Coffee Business and then, he said, he asked them to re-apply to the new Wonderwood Springs business.
Bennett planned to shut down the shop for two weeks and hoped that many, if not all, of the baristas would be part of the new version of the project.
Those who wanted, he said, were also offered jobs at other Sortis companies. Sortis Holdings owns many Pacific Northwest businesses, from restaurants to hotels, including Sizzle Pie, Bamboo Sushi, Water Avenue Coffee and the Ace Hotel.
“Coffee Business gave us a pamphlet with an explanation of what was going on, as well as a list of jobs at their other locations, the majority of which were not at coffee shops or cafes,” the barista group member said. “They were positions at places like Bamboo Sushi or Sizzle Pie. Most of what was being offered were things outside our wheelhouse of experience.”
“We were not being given priority in terms of hiring for any of these places,” the former barista added, “and they straight-up told us that most of the positions on that sheet would not be available by the end of that day ‘so just keep checking for new listings.’”
“While Coffee Business was not involved in the decision to temporarily close the cafe for reimagining,” a spokesperson for Coffee Business said, “we deeply appreciate and value the employees who contributed so much to Wonderwood Springs while it was under our management.”
The spokesperson said that employees were all offered positions at Sortis businesses and help with resume writing and interviewing when they declined that offer. Employees were also told “they would be paid through the transition, receive compensation for banked PTO, and that we would extend their health benefits through the end of September,” the spokesperson said.
Bennett said that he regretted asking the baristas to fill out paperwork to “re-apply” for jobs at the new business.
“My time machine moment is I shouldn’t have used the word ‘re-apply,’” Bennett said.
The baristas were surprised by the announcement and unhappy about the fact that Bennett asked them to re-apply for their jobs. Bennett said none of them re-applied.
Instead, he said, the employees demanded another meeting with Coffee Business, Bennett and Albertson.
Bennett said he had hoped to talk to the barista group but they weren’t willing to meet with him without Coffee Business.
Coffee Business also told Eater that they would meet with the employees under different under different circumstances but, “We believe what they’re referring to here is a demand for contract negotiation, which isn’t something Coffee Business could do as we would no longer be the employers and there were no employment contracts in place at the time of the transition.”
The barista said neither Bennett and Albertson nor Coffee Business responded to the group request to meet – they said that Alberston and Bennett did respond to individuals – and in response to the lack of response, the baristas decided to picket the cafe on Friday.
Bennett said that he supported the picketers and understood their anger. And he knows that there is something special about working at Wonderwood Springs, a place that the employees – many of whom identify as neurodivergent and disabled – characterize on Instagram as a safe space for them to be themselves.
“I created a world that they got to populate and love,” he said. “It was really an incredible community that I really know the importance of and I never wanted to strip that away or disband it.”
It makes sense to him that the baristas wouldn’t want to go from a fantasy cartoon cafe with a loving, supportive community, to work at Sizzle Pie.
But he also said he feels like he was fundamentally misunderstood during the initial meeting. Since Wonderwood Springs would be a completely new business under his ownership, he needed new paperwork from employees. And, as a much smaller business without corporate backing, and as much as he hoped it would work out, keeping all the employees may not have been possible. Still, he wishes he had approached that first conversation differently.
“I’m still navigating and still listening and trying to not squash any voices,” he said.
For their part, the employees say they are “exhausted and burnt out.”
“At this point, getting severance from Coffee Business or an actual accountable apology from Mike feels like a pipedream,” the barista said. “We’re tired. We’re all neurodivergent and disabled. Most of us are on the autistic spectrum. This entire situation, having to constantly interact, tell our story over and over, as well as be in the public eye like this is a nightmare for us. We want to get enough raised on our fundraiser to give ourselves some kind of severance, and then we’re stepping back.”
The group may still get what they want, at least from Bennett. When it comes to an apology, he said, “Not only can I, but I want to.
But, he added, “I want to make sure that I am apologizing for things that I can apologize for.”
The employees at Wonderwood Springs, he said, uplifted his work and created a vibrant community. “Not just an apology but a thank you is in order,” Bennett said. He said he is still thinking about exactly what that should look like.
As for Wonderwood Springs, Bennett still plans to open it, but not in two weeks. He said he doesn’t feel right turning around and re-opening while the former employees are still protesting and that situation is unresolved. Now, he’s unsure when he will be ready to reopen the cafe.
For an artist who built his name around whimsy and kindness, this first brush with a backlash has been a challenge and a learning experience.
“It’s so hard to be perfect but I think we can be good,” Bennett said. Then, thinking out loud, he added, “There’s no way to be perfect.”
— Lizzy Acker
503-221-8052; [email protected]; @lizzzyacker
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