On May 25, Moodswing Coffee and Bar put up a post on social media that was unlike any of their other recent posts featuring unique cocktails and dimly-lit décor.
This post was a call for help.
The cafe and bar was founded by three friends — Li Johnstone, Stephanie Vu and Ricky Castanedo Laredo — a decade ago, as Old Crow Coffee Co.
Over the years, it expanded the boundaries of what a cafe could be — from hosting stand-up to artist talks, open mics, metal shows, and Dungeons & Dragons-themed pop-ups.
Last year, the cafe reinvented itself as a part cafe and part cocktail boutique, and even underwent a name change from Old Crow to Moodswing. In the months following the re-branding, it re-organized its space to accommodate second-hand LGBTQIA+ BIPOC literature — a collection curated by New West’s Wildfires Bookshop.
But now, the Moodswing team isn’t sure it can continue to do all that anymore.
In fact, they are finding it difficult to even just serve coffee, Johnstone, Vu and Laredo wrote in a GoFundMe post.
“We’ve been having a really hard time since the pandemic and have been struggling to catch our breath since,” they said.
The pandemic, a major construction work that’s been running for more two years right near their cafe, and a more recent “massive” electrical issue has together pushed them to choose between two options: ask for help or shut the cafe/bar down.
The Moodswing team picked the latter; now, it's seeking to raise $80,000 from the community.
About $25,000 will be used for "appliance upgrade (freezer and fridges), and the subsequent power unit upgrade which will put us in a state of precarity until construction is complete,” they wrote. The remaining $50,000 plus will be used to pay the outstanding debt that the cafe/bar accrued during the pandemic and because of the Metro Vancouver Interceptor project that often saw the full closure of McKenzie Street, “hindering traffic and store visibility” for more than two years, they added.
In the first four days, the campaign raised more than $18,000 from 253 contributors.
But that’s still far from the goal.
Stressing that fundraising is their last-ditch effort to stay in business, the team wrote in its plea to the community on Instagram: “You’ve already given us so much and we are forever grateful to have had the opportunity to be here.”
“But we really wanna keep staying here and we likely can’t without asking for help,” they added.
To donate to Moodswing Coffee and Bar, visit their GoFundMe page.
