Liverpool coffee shop Fika overwhelmed by huge queues after ‘we need help’ post

The owner of Liverpool coffee shop Fika says he’s had an ‘off-the-scale’ response and queues down the street since posting a ‘we need help’ plea on social media.

Anthony Grice, boss of Fika on Woolton Road in Childwall, was reluctant to admit it was struggling to keep going and facing the possibility of closure within the month.

But the reaction from customers, including some on the other side of the world who’ve never even visited the city, has been overwhelming.

He said:

“We noticed the decline start about two years ago and there have been a few times when I’ve thought about doing a post like this, but I didn’t want to because I’m a proud person and it feels like I’m a failure, begging people to come to us.

“The situation just got to the point where we couldn’t go on as we were. All the costs were going up and up – the price of ingredients, wages, rates, rent, electricity, everything. And on top of that there’s been the impact of delivery services.

“I’ve not taken a wage out of the shop for over a year, and three times in the past year I’ve had to pay staff wages out my own bank account because making sure they’re paid is my number one priority. 

“I was seeing the way things are and thinking I might be lucky to get to Christmas.

“Then on Monday my wife, who does a lot of the finances for the shop, looked at them and said, ‘it’s in an absolute mess, it’s really bad’.

“We went through everything, and it went from maybe Christmas to honestly being lucky to make it to the end of the month. It looked like I was going to have to sell up, and I was in tears because this isn’t just a job for me.

“We’re more than a coffee shop, we’re a community hub, we bring people together, that’s the whole Fika concept. I get so many messages from people telling me I’ve uplifted them without even knowing because they’ve read my posts or my boards when they were going through a hard time. That’s what this shop’s all about.”

After much soul-searching, Anthony shared the desperate situation Fika was facing with tens of thousands of followers on Instagram and Facebook.

“It’s been well-documented what I’ve done for the city and I just thought, I’ve got to ask because I’m the one who needs help now. I wonder if people could come and give us a little lifeline?” he says.

“I was totally honest and told it how it is and I was really emotional writing it. I posted it, took a deep breath and went onto my Instagram about 60 seconds later and it already had about 200 likes. Then it just exploded, now on Instagram it’s had over 2million views and must have had well over 1,000 messages.

“When we went to the shop on Tuesday morning, I was wondering what it was going to be like. Then at 8am it started and by 9am the queue was down the street. 

“People were coming in and buying coffee beans, T-shirts hanging on the wall, Christmas vouchers, anything. One guy bought a coffee for himself and 30 more to pay it forward and we had businesses coming in buying 15 or 20 cakes.

“That first day after the post every cake had gone by 9.30am, it’s been crazy. We’ve had the busiest days we’ve ever had since we opened nearly eight years ago.”

Anthony says he’s had messages from as far as Canada and Scandinavia wanting to offer help, so he’s decided to set up a Go Fund Me and a virtual coffee concept.

“We’ve got a big following on socials and a lot of people have said they can’t get to us in person, but they want to donate and support us.

“The virtual coffee idea means anyone can donate online, buy a coffee and we can put that on the board for whoever wants to take it. That way we’re getting supported because we’ve sold a coffee and someone also gets a free one.”

Anthony says after a really tough time, he’s been overwhelmed by people’s generosity.

“Honestly it’s been amazing, just beautiful to see.”

You can support Fika’s virtual coffee idea here.

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