Pittsburgh's Adda coffee chain abruptly closes all locations

A small coffee chain has abruptly closed all four of its Pittsburgh locations, and some critics are claiming it is a move to undermine labor organizing.

Adda Coffee & Tea House announced late Thursday on social media that it is closing all of its locations, claiming it has been running at a loss since the business started in 2016, and those losses only increased since the pandemic started.

“We tried to stay optimistic and have been consistently re-evaluating our business model in efforts to keep fulfilling our mission,” reads the social media post. “Despite everyone’s best efforts, our monetary reserves are depleted and we need to close our doors.”

The sudden closure comes the same day that some workers at Adda announced their intent to form a labor union. In a video posted on social media, the baristas said they wanted to see better pay and scheduling consistency at Adda coffee shops.

Adda opened its first location in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood in 2016, and has been expanding and contracting since. Until this week, Adda had four locations: in Shadyside, Garfield, North Side, and Downtown.

The Garfield location was closed Friday morning when TribLive visited. A print-out of Adda’s social media message was posted in the window.

The business did not address the unionization effort in its social media post about closing. Adda was known for a creative coffee menu and sometimes hosted local chefs inside its locations. Most of its shops also sold high-end food and kitchen items.

Some on social media have accused Adda of union busting.

The Adda Workers Union shared an email from Adda management that said all workers were fired and the business would pay for their scheduled hours through Jan 21.

Management also said it had recently made recent moves to try to cut costs, but they ultimately weren’t enough, according to the email shared in Adda Workers Union’s post.

Adda management did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story.

The Adda Workers Union said on social media that it vowed to keep fighting.

This isn’t the first time in the Pittsburgh area coffee shops have closed shortly after workers started labor organizing.

In 2019, a Tazza D’Oro coffee shop location in Millvale closed shortly after union organizing started there. And in 2017, Amazing Cafe in South Side closed after workers participated in a one-day strike. Both coffee shops also said they were closing due to monetary reasons and neither reopened.