From Employees to Owners: How Five Baristas Saved Their Café

Image credits: unsplash

What began as a push for change turned into something no one expected: ownership.

Key Takeaways

• In less than a year, a group of baristas at White Electric Coffee in Providence went from forming a union to purchasing the café themselves.
  
• After the business was put up for sale, the workers raised funds with the help of their community and chose to turn the shop into a worker owned cooperative.
  
• The café now operates without traditional managers, with profits distributed based on hours worked and decisions made collectively.
  
• The transition reflects a broader effort to create a more inclusive and democratic workplace, while also serving as a resource for other service workers in the area.

When the workers at White Electric Coffee in Providence heard the café was going up for sale, they had a choice to make.

They could walk away.

Or they could imagine something bigger.

Less than a year earlier, the small group of baristas had come together to talk about the kind of workplace they wanted to be part of, one that reflected their values around fairness, inclusion, and shared responsibility. Those conversations eventually led them to form an independent union, hoping to build a stronger voice at work.

Then the unexpected happened.

The café was put on the market.

Instead of seeing it as an ending, the workers saw an opportunity. If they truly wanted a different kind of workplace, why not build it themselves?

With no corporate backing and no wealthy investors, they turned to their community. They launched a GoFundMe campaign, hosted local fundraisers, and slowly pieced together the funds needed for a down payment. Friends, customers, and neighbors contributed, believing in the idea of a coffee shop owned by the very people who ran it.

In April, they signed the purchase agreement. White Electric officially became a worker-owned cooperative, one of only a handful of such cafés in the country.

The internet, of course, had thoughts. Supporters shared celebratory posts and memes, turning the café’s transformation into a small but joyful online moment.

Image Credits: abby4thepeople, X

Today, the shop operates without traditional managers. Decisions are made collectively, and profits are distributed based on hours worked. Employees who want to become co-owners can invest gradually, making ownership accessible rather than exclusive.

For longtime worker Chloe Chassaing, the shift feels both surreal and deeply meaningful. “We used to talk about what we wished could happen,” she reminisced. “Now we’re the ones making the decisions.”

The group hasn’t forgotten why they organized in the first place. They are still working toward creating a workplace that reflects their values, but now they have the ability to shape that process from within.

And through their independent union, the Collaborative Union of Providence Service-Workers, they hope to support others in the service industry who are looking for similar paths.

At its core, the story isn’t just about a café.

It’s about what can happen when workers refuse to give up on a place they care about. Instead of letting change happen to them, they chose to become the change, together.

It’s stories like these that bring people together and remind us of what truly matters. Small moments of care, empathy, and love can leave a lasting impact – not just on those involved, but on everyone who hears them.

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