After facing intense backlash for removing all Pride flags from its locations, Philz Coffee reversed course Friday and said the flags will go back up.
“Our Pride flags are staying up.” CEO Mahesh Sadarangani said in a Friday press release. “If a Pride flag came down, it can be put back up.”
The company said in its April 10 announcement that removing the flags was meant to offer a “more consistent, inclusive experience.”
After much push back from within the company and a petition that received over 7,000 signatures, Philz walked the decision back, with Sadarangani apologizing for the earlier announcement.
“I made a mistake, and I am sincerely sorry,” Sadarangani said in the release, “To our Team Members, to our customers, and to the LGBTQIA+ community that has been with us since the very beginning, the confusion and hurt we caused around our new policy for Pride flags failed you.”
“I’m glad that they listened to everybody, and they made a change,” one employee at a Chicago-area Philz told the Sun-Times. “I don’t think it should have happened in the first place.”
The employee, who requested anonymity out of fear for her job, said that Pride flags are hung in other storefronts all around the Philz location where she works. She said it was “strange” that the coffee shop was removing its flag.
“It’s definitely a part of this community,” the employee said “They’re everywhere.”
Philz has historically been supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. In Friday’s release, it said it will continue to donate to the same LGBTQIA+ organizations as it did the year before.
One of the Chicago-area locations, which once hung a Pride flag, said it will mount its flag on the empty hooks soon.
The Bay-Area based coffee company has six locations in the Chicago area – in Lincoln Park, Old Town, River North, Wicker Park and Hyde Park and Evanston.