Baby’s on Fire will close — but owners and employees don’t agree on why

Saro Khan paused during the morning rush to drape an arm around a co-worker and hug a regular at Baby’s on Fire. The owners of the Mount Vernon coffee shop, named after a Brian Eno song, announced Friday that it will shut down this month, leaving employees like Khan heartbroken — and furious.

In a statement posted to Facebook by the business, David and Shirlé Koslowski said July 19 will be Baby’s on Fire’s last day of service. They cited “significant losses in revenue due to the economic downturn.”

Workers say the closure comes just weeks after they announced plans to unionize. Barista Nick Rodriguez said most of the employees hadn’t heard from the Koslowskis, who live in Portugal, since Baby’s on Fire workers sent the couple a letter requesting voluntary recognition of the union.

The Koslowskis could not be immediately reached for additional comment or to respond to workers’ concerns. Khan said the unionization push, which had the support of most of the shop’s eight employees, stemmed in part from challenges communicating with the Koslowskis. Workers said they don’t have access to the cafe’s social media accounts, making it harder to promote specials and relay other news to customers.

“Unionizing Baby’s is about saving Baby’s and preserving Baby’s for the future,” Khan said.

Last month, staffers set up an Instagram account to broadcast their unionization efforts. Now, they’re using it to support soon-to-be-unemployed workers. In a statement shared online, the staffers said the shutdown “shows complete disregard for us as a staff and any willingness to operate in good faith.”

“Many of us live paycheck to paycheck, don’t have access to our paystubs, and are panicking,” they added.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 27, with whom the Baby’s on Fire workers filed to unionize, released a statement Friday in support of the shop. “This has been a popular business for a decade, and there is no reason to shut it down,” President Jason Chorpenning said, “but it seems the owners would rather throw their workers out of a job than respect their right to unionize. It’s union-busting 101.”

Baby’s on Fire, which also features a small selection of vinyl records for sale, was bustling Friday morning. Outside, a rainbow flag waved in the breeze. Ten years after it opened at 1010 Morton St., Baby’s, as staff affectionately call it, has become a haven for members of the city’s LGBTQIA+ community, said pastry chef Nora Krause.

Though Mount Vernon is the city’s historic gayborhood, that’s changed as iconic gay hangouts like The Hippo and Grand Central have shut their doors. “Queer spaces in this neighborhood are very few and far between,” Krause said. Khan said the shop has a loyal following in the area, and staffers like Krause have reworked the pastry menu to boost profits.

The eatery also serves meals to people experiencing homelessness through a program that allows customers to pay it forward, and Khan was gutted thinking about the impact on them.

Customer Kelsey Sabur said she has frequented Baby’s for years, and even more often since she began working to open an art gallery just next door. “We were really excited to join this new community,” she said. “To see something like this happen, it’s really upsetting.”

Some are still hoping for a solution that keeps Baby’s alive.

Kate Khatib, senior fellow at the Baltimore Roundtable for Economic Democracy, said her organization reached out to the Koslowskis to explore whether the cafe could transition to worker ownership, but has not yet heard back.

BRED facilitated the transition of Common Ground to a cooperative after the Hampden coffee shop closed suddenly. Khatib said the business has seen increased sales as well as new opportunities for staff.

But it doesn’t always work. “Given how many restaurants are closing right now,” Khatib said in a text message, “a sale to the workers won’t always be the right solution.”

This story has been updated to reflect that a majority of employees supported unionization.