I guess you can file the following story under F*ck Around Find Out:
The owners of a shuttered California bakery are blaming political backlash for their 50-year-old institution’s closure, calming their bold political statements — including criticism of ICE and staunch support of Palestine, saw them booted off Instagram and contributed to the eatery’s demise.
Nabolom Bakery & Pizzerra in Berkeley closed for good on Sunday after a half-century in business. The Bay Area fixture, known for its fruit Danish pastries and sourdough pizzas, initially cited rising ingredient and utility costs as the reason behind their closure.
Now, owners Julia Elliott and Sabra Stepak are going further, saying controversy over their political beliefs hurt the business.
“We’ve always been upfront about our political views. It has now threatened our livelihood,” Elliott and Stepak wrote in a Facebook post.
The owners said they received backlash for a “Defund the Police” mural and a “Teach Palestine” poster they put up outside their business several years ago.
“We were also kicked off instagram for reposting an image of a BART car tagged with ‘F–k Ice’ in our story,” they wrote.
Sales for the business dropped 20% once they were “kicked off” Instagram, the owners claim.
“Then, our anti-up-zoning position brought word of a boycott on list-serves/reddit/WhatsApp,” they continued.
Let’s stop there for a second. This is a bakery in Berkeley, where anti-Israel and anti-US views are likely to get you more clients. And as one of the owners admitted, they’ve “always been upfront about [their] political views.” So I call BS. Also, no mention of Instagram when Sabra Stepak was interviewed by a different publication a few days earlier:
Co-owner Sabra Stepak confirmed to SFGATE that the bakery’s last day of service is Sunday. Stepak spoke candidly about the difficulties of running a bakery in a highly competitive market like Berkeley, where it often feels like “three bakeries are opening every month” and employee turnover is high. The increase in the cost of ingredients and utilities has added to the longtime challenges plaguing this beloved bakery on Russell Street in Elmwood.
“It’s something that’s going on with all small businesses,” Stepak said. “Chocolate has increased three times. My PG&E has gone up like 70%.”
Mind you, blaming your sh*tty situation on others is peak palestinian cause, so this is just being true to form.
Besides, shouldn’t they be boycotting Instagram? It’s head is Adam Mosseri, who holds dual US and Israeli citizenship.
Perhaps it was their incessant anti-Israel posting that lost them many (Jewish) customers.
But whatever ultimately killed Nabolom, blaming politics after previously blaming soaring costs, competition and staffing problems feels a little half-baked.
Meanwhile, if Sabra Stepak thinks she is having a terrible week, wait until she finds out what her first name means.
