divya1d ago

For everyone who drinks Philz coffee in Bay Area, please note

https://sf.gazetteer.co/philz-ceo-orders-removal-of-flags-from-stores-including-pride-flags-to-create-an-inclusive-experience

Philz CEO orders removal of flags from stores, including pride flags, to create an ‘inclusive experience’

Once a local gem, the private equity-owned coffee chain has pissed off staff and patrons with its anti-LGBTQ request 

Show threadPaco Hope

@divya The cause of this, like so many businesses before it, is buried 8 paragraphs deep:

Philz…was sold to Los Angeles-based private equity firm Freeman Spogli for $145 million in August of last year.

Private equity are a cancer. Everything they touch dies.

Apr 9 at 12:42amWeb
Show threadspiegelmama1d ago
@paco @divya Yeah, I noted that. So gross. Is coffee the new target of these vultures?
Show threadPaco Hope1d ago
@spiegelmama @divya Nothing is sacred. They’re doing dentists, funeral homes, you name it. Buy it up, tear it apart, let it fail. Lather, rinse, repeat. Red Lobster and Toys R Us are other classic examples.
Show threadspiegelmama1d ago
@paco @divya Notoriously, that's what happened to the newspaper industry. Absolute depravity.
Show threadyouknowthatonepersonwithaface1d ago
@spiegelmama @paco @divya and same folks who bought the newspapers are "flipping" the Greyhound stations (literally, same folks who destroyed my local paper bought up and sold the local Greyhound station). Buses suck but at least you used to be able to sit out of the weather and have a restroom to use, now last time I got a bus there, I had to wait 6 hours under an awning in below freezing with no bench and no restroom cause the gas station nearby closed at 10 pm.
Show threadspiegelmama1d ago
@Thatonepersonwithaface Oh, goddammit- that's awful. @paco @divya
Show threadGeorge B1d ago

@paco @divya

Well on the bright side, since it was sold to private equity the quality will be going down and making avoiding it easier

Show threadAndrew (Television Executive)1d ago

@gbargoud @paco @divya They weren't just sold to private equity, though.

They sold to private equity while not paying out any of their employee-owners.

They just invalidated the stock owned by there employees.

Show threadGeorge B1d ago

@ajroach42 @paco @divya

That is terrible. I would ask "how is that even allowed" but I suspect the answer is "it's not but who's gonna stop them"

Show threadAndrew (Television Executive)1d ago
@gbargoud @paco @divya https://missionlocal.org/2025/07/philz-coffee-private-equity-sell/
Philz Coffee close to closing deal to sell to private equity firm for $145 million

Employee stocks will be canceled as part of the deal; former employees point to culture change across Philz Coffee.

Mission Local