Barboncino pizzeria, a beloved establishment in Crown Heights, will cease operations at the end of February due to struggles in reclaiming pre-pandemic sales and profitability. Co-owners Jesse Shapell and Emma Walton expressed their sadness over the closure while acknowledging economic strains. The pizzeria, renowned for successfully unionizing its non-management staff in 2023, faced challenges related to staff needs and conditions. The union, Barboncino Workers United, has expressed disappointment over the owners' absence in addressing these issues and initiated a crowdfunding campaign to support the workers impacted by the closure.
Barboncino must put out the oven-fire, and close the doors, due to rising economic strains and diminished sales. We believed in Barboncino's long-term potential.
We are still processing this huge news, feeling a myriad of feelings. Barbs is such a special place to us, our customers and the community it's cultivated.
Though it's unclear whether the union's demands were met in the years since it was founded, the BWU accused Shapell and Walton of being absent owners.
The union's efforts for higher wages and better working conditions formed Barboncino Workers United, the city's first pizza shop to unionize.
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