DENVER — A controversial Denver coffee shop didn’t reopen on Monday morning as scheduled after being the target of protests throughout the weekend.
Demonstrators returned return to ink! Coffee as well, still upset about a sign the shop posted in front of the store at 29th and Larimer streets.
The sign, which read in part, “Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014, with the back of it reading, “Nothing says gentrification like being able to order a cortado,” has rocked the neighborhood.
The store was vandalized on Thursday and on Monday morning, protesters crowded the front door. The store was scheduled to reopen at 6 a.m. but did not.
For the protesters, gentrifying is a dirty word.
“We have to have a conversation so businesses coming into the neighborhood are investing back into the neighborhood and not kicking people out,” a protester said.
The owner of the coffee shop has apologized, saying he did not appreciate the real and troubling issues of gentrification.