DENVER — Denverites hungry for brunch on Saturday morning came face to face with the Secret Garden’s not-so-secret closure.
“Closed” signs now surround the cafe, housed in the historic Tear-McFarlane House on the edge of Cheesman Park.
The 22 former employees of the cafe, located at 1290 N. Williams Street near Cheesman Park, believe it stemmed from their efforts to unionize.
“After realizing that we were prepared to come to the bargaining table, management and owners of Secret Garden decided to shut down in two weeks,” former barista and bartender Connor Devine told Denver7.
Secret Garden’s employees were first told that the business would be shutting down on October 19.
But former barista Tess Devillier told Denver7 that employees from the cafe’s management, City Street Investors, came in mid-morning on Friday and shut the place down with no warning.
“I was working in there, serving coffee. They told people to leave. I’m crying as I’m having to finish these orders,” recalled Devillier.
That day, she said, off-duty employees had started gathering signatures at Cheesman Park in support of their efforts to unionize.
“Yeah, we deem that as retaliation,” said Devine.
Those efforts began over the summer, according to Devillier.
“We had no AC for all of the summer. They finally bought a fan, and they told us [it was] for customers and not for us. We were worried that our staff would pass out, so that’s why we initially got together and formed this union. We realized things were unfair, and it wasn’t just a whim or anything like that,” she said.
In a statement, UFCW Local 7 president Kim Cordova condemned the shutdown as unlawful union busting.
“This retaliatory closure in response to what is clearly activity protected under Federal law is just the latest in a string of unlawful acts committed by Secret Garden and its corporate owners City Street Investors to silence the voices of workers and retaliate against them for unionizing. It is particularly galling that City Street Investors, a major participant in public-private development partnerships around Denver, would direct such a blatant campaign of union busting,” Cordova said in a statement.
City Street Investments is a major investor in many popular concepts across town – including The Schoolyard, Lowry Beer Garden, and Union Station.
But when Denver7 reached out to City Street Investments on Saturday, they denied the claims.
“The restaurant, which operated at a significant loss since opening 13 months ago, was not financially sustainable. The decision to close is entirely unrelated to the recent employee unionization. An affiliated restaurant, YumCha in Central Park, closed four days earlier for the same reason,” said Kirsten Becker, Director of Marketing and Branding.
The Secret Garden’s website and social media pages have since been taken down.
It’s worth noting that Yumcha’s pages are still up and running.
“If you’ve been here before, you’ve seen how busy it is – lines are out the door. They also just got a new menu. We don’t necessarily believe that that’s true,” said Devillier.
“We’re just trying to make a living and ask for fair wages and not have our tips be stolen,” added Devine.
Employees said they’re not done fighting yet.
On Saturday, they continued on their mission to gather signatures from shocked community members at Cheesman Park.
“We are hoping that they meet us at the bargaining table,” said Devillier, “Hearing people and talking to people and explaining what’s been going on here has been really amazing, and how the community has really stood behind us, we really appreciate it.”
Denver’s Secret Garden Café closes abruptly amid unionization dispute
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