From the outside, Cafe Euphoria might seem like any other coffee shop in downtown Troy, New York—an upstate city of 50,000 that has a café on practically every block. But inside this brick storefront, something much more radical is brewing: a business model that could upend the traditional capitalistic business structure.
“We are anti-capitalist in our composition to the core,” says Atsushi Akera, general manager of Cafe Euphoria, which also includes a coworking space and curated thrift shop. “We’re trying to create an alternative economic system that goes against the traditional ways of doing things, [one that’s] based on principles of equity, inclusion, all of that.”
We’re trying to create an alternative economic system that goes against the traditional ways of doing things, [one that’s] based on principles of equity, inclusion, all of that.”
—Atsushi Akera
Cafe Euphoria has a radical and unique approach: The business is a worker-owned cooperative run by a group of eight transgender and gender-nonconforming folks who are all
— source yesmagazine.org | Mike De Socio | Aug 16, 2022