DETROIT (WWJ) - The Gathering Coffee Co. in Detroit is set to reopen to customers on Wednesday almost one week after a threatening 10-page note was delivered to the location on East Grand Boulevard.
The coffee shop announced the decision to suddenly close its doors on Feb. 23, one day after they received the note on Wednesday, Feb, 22.
In a post to the company's Instagram page, officials said the letter contained images, words and phrases of "hate and fear" while the writer also penned specific dates to carry out threats of harm
"Due to the nature of this letter, out of protection for our team and for you, our community, we have decided to close our doors for the next week, until these dates have passed," company said in their post last week. "This decision will give us time to implement new safety protocols as we seek to re-open our doors, and will not do so, until these protocols are put into place."
The shop started a GoFundMe account to help raise money to hire a security guard and cover lost revenue and wages over the last seven days to help pay for rent, utilities, and other bills.
The remaining money will go towards therapy and resource costs for the team, the company added. So far, the crowdfunding page has raised over $7,000 of its $10,500 goal.
Gathering Coffee Co. plans to reopen its doors on Wednesday, March 1 and will continue to accept donations, but if they cannot raise the funds, they may be forced to shut down yet again.
The Gathering Coffee Co. isn't the only café that's received a threatening note. Strange Matter Coffee, an LGBTQ+ coffee shop in Lansing, also got a hateful letter in the mail and decided to close its two locations on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
"We received a ten page letter, postmarked over two weeks ago, containing specific dates, images of hate, and threatening phrases," the Mid-Michigan shop said in an Instagram post.
"Another queer-identified coffee shop received a similar letter in Detroit. While several of the dates identified in the letter have already passed, we are opting for caution for the sake of our staff and customers," the post added.
According to Strange Matter, the two letters were written by the same person, although police have not commented on if the two incidents are connected.
Both shops said police are continuing to investigate the letters.