‘Anti-capitalist’ coffee shop shuts down in Toronto after only one year due to lack of income

According to BlogTO, the cafe opened in March 2022 and described itself as an "anti-capitalist, anti-colonial cafe, shop, and radical community space on stolen land.”

"It's been an amazing experience," The Anarchist’s owner Gabriel Sims-Fewer wrote on the cafe’s website, "connecting with so many great community members, sparking desperately needed debate, raising the blood pressure of Conservatives (that includes you, ‘anarcho-capitalists’ and ‘Libertarians’), fulfilling the dream of most service workers by not having to tolerate the presence of professional class-traitors (pigs and military), and experimenting with living and working in ways that don't enthusiastically embrace the pure misanthropy of Capitalism.”

He added, "Unfortunately, the lack of generational wealth/seed capital from ethically bankrupt sources left me unable to weather the quiet winter season, or to grow in the ways needed to be sustainable longer-term.”

Sims-Fewer said the cafe "has been a huge success in every way I hoped, and has given me so much inspiration and education that I plan to put to use in future projects."

He concluded, "F*ck the rich. F*ck the police. F*ck the state. F*ck the colonial death camp we call 'Canada.'"

According to the cafe’s website, in order to make coffee accessible to everyone and to prove that the business was not a capitalist venture, the shop had a "pay what you can" model that was subsidized by more expensive drinks.

The unsuccessful model came under fire when The Anarchist first opened, as critics claimed it was hypocritical to charge high prices for inexpensive beverages.

The shop also sold anti-capitalist merchandise including art, books, clothing, stickers, jewelry, and tote bags.

It will close its doors at the end of the month.