Beloved bagel shop Detroit Institute of Bagels is closing once again, and this time it may never be the same.
After closing its Corktown location in 2020 following seven successful years, owner Ben Newman reopened the shop in early 2023 in Detroit’s Core City, taking over the former Ochre Bakery space.
However, on July 14, Newman sent an email to employees informing them that he had sold Detroit Institute of Bagels to Philip Kafka, a real estate developer known for repurposing vacant buildings in the area. And, he would be taking over the next day, reported BridgeDetroit .
Due to little communication about the quick sale alongside Kafka’s business reputation among some as a “gentrifier” and his public political beliefs as a “Zionist,” more than half of the staff quit within a week, according to BridgeDetroit .
When asked for comment, a representative for Kafka shared an email from a worker.
“Kafka: I would call you a vulture, but I like vultures too much to demean their good name,” one former employee said in an email. “You’re embarrassingly out-of-touch with what Detroit (and the world more broadly) needs. Your obsession with the working class, while you maintain a position exploiting it, and brag about never having had to stoop to taking a job, makes me sick to my stomach to think about. A note: all of these conclusions about you are based entirely on your own words and practices. I believe Judaism to be a beautiful religion, and zionism to be deeply anti-semitic.”
The following Monday, Kafka emailed the remaining employees announcing that the bagel shop would be closing its doors, effective immediately.
The email stated, “To be clear, you no longer have the chance for employment at the business, as the business can’t operate without the key participants who have recently resigned. I was looking forward to working with everyone to continue offering the energy, value, bagels and bread that DIB was known for, and I regret that we never even got a chance to properly meet.”
Through the representative, Kafka says that the remaining employees were laid off, though “a handful of employees will continue on in the next iteration of DIB.” The new owner also says he is working out a solution to employ the team members who did not resign via his company Prince Concepts.
Former employees told BridgeDetroit that the bagel shop was a great place to work, but described Kafka’s purchase as a “takeover,” noting that things immediately took a turn for the worse, including changes being made without communication and no effort to meet the staff.
Kafka, however, says he made many attempts to schedule group and one-on-one meetings with team members following Newman's notification of ownership transfer. Emails show that some staff members responded to say they could not make the meeting due to short notice.
Another email from Kafka to staff states, “There won’t be any fast changes, we will learn from you all, and work together, at the right pace, to grow naturally.”
Previous owner Newman stated that, after funding the shop with his personal savings and working unpaid for over a year, he sold to Kafka believing it was the most stable choice to save the shop and people’s jobs.
Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.
Future plans for the Detroit Institute of Bagels have not yet been announced.
This story was updated with a statement from Kafka.
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