Detroit Institute of Bagels sold to Philip Kafka, abruptly closes

The doors of the Detroit Institute of Bagels in Core City are closed indefinitely after ownership was transferred to a prominent real estate developer. 

On July 14, at 5:16 p.m. Detroit Institute of Bagel owner Ben Newman notified all of the shop’s employees via email that the sale had been made and Philip Kafka – who owns more than 20 acres of land in Detroit under his real estate development firm Prince Concepts – was taking over the next day. 

“I am excited to share news about the next iteration of Detroit Institute of Bagels. A version that, I believe, sets everyone up for long-term success,” the email reads.

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But ex-staffers liken the transition once Kafka stepped in to a “takeover.” Combined with the new owner’s political beliefs about Israel and business reputation, more than half of the workers quit within the week, or were planning to, they said.

The next Monday, Kafka sent an email immediately terminating the remaining DIB staff.

“To be clear, you no longer have the chance for employment at the business, as the business can’t operate without the key participants who have recently resigned,” Kafka wrote in the Monday letter. “I was looking forward to working with everyone and continue offering the energy, value, bagels and bread that DIB was known for, and I regret that we never even got a chance to properly meet.” 

In an emailed statement Wednesday, Kafka said “a handful of employees will continue on in the next iteration of DIB.” He is working out a solution to employ them via Prince Concepts in the interim, while DIB sorts out its next steps, the email adds.

Former DIB baker DeMarco Havard said the way everything unfolded left staff feeling discontent and confused.

“If they wanted to do this correctly, they could have actually just got a company meeting together, explained the situation several weeks in advance, instead of being notified by email,” said Havard, one of seven DIB employees including managers, bakers and other positions who spoke with BridgeDetroit. 

“But instead they decided ‘we’re gonna blindside everybody;’ damn near feels like the dark of the night.” 

Rapid dissolution

DIB opened in Core City in 2023. It previously operated in Corktown from 2013 to 2020 before Newman closed due to pandemic-related challenges, and sold the building. Then, in 2022, Newman, feeling “rejuvenated,” announced the bagel shop would make a return in Core City under a five-year lease agreement. 

A handful of the first employees to resign said DIB was an amazing place to work, welcoming to a very diverse staff, and a community unlike other restaurants the longtime food industry staff had worked at. They hung a pride flag in the window, making the space their own. Employees were excited about collaborative plans to improve DIB such as reducing food waste, creating better-tasting vegan recipes, and using the space for community events. 

Under Kafka, things took a turn “immediately,” former employees told BridgeDetroit.

Last week, while prepping for business, workers said Kafka and several others came in to take measurements and move furniture, without any communication to bagel shop staff. 

In the days that followed, they say, access to the company checkbook and petty cash were taken away. As a result, managers were unable to pay vendors and scrambled to get flour. In addition, the ordering system login information changed in the middle of service, leaving staff briefly unable to take orders or clock out. The Instagram login also changed, leaving the employee in charge of social media unable to fulfill her duties. 

“Again, none of this was communicated,” Laurie Ewasek, DIB deli manager, said. 

The main breakdown seemed to occur when Kafka sent his first email after the sale, inviting people to reach out with questions and saying he would be meeting with staff one-on-one. The tension escalated when Kafka called for an all-staff meeting with less than 24 hours notice.

The chief concern among employees was, they said, that Kafka never made a respectful effort to meet them all and work with them to continue operating and building the bagel shop. 

“It became very quickly clear that he doesn’t get it, he doesn’t deserve the community that we have built,” Ewasek said. 

A controversial developer

Kafka is known for repurposing vacant buildings and lots, now owning more than 20 acres in the city through a dozen projects including residential, commercial, and park space. Additionally, Kafka has planted more than 700 trees in Detroit and won several awards for his projects and architecture, and has more projects planned. Much of his developments are concentrated in Core City, where DIB rented space and Kafka operates his own cafe, Cafe Prince–home to the $1.80 raw carrot. In late June, Kafka purchased nine more properties in Core City, with the intent to open another mixed-use development.

For years, Kafka has fielded accusations of gentrifying from the public, and increasingly lately, pictures have circulated on social media advising people to avoid “Zionist” Detroit businesses that include Kafka’s Cafe Prince, among others. 

In an email to staff in response to the first two employee resignations, Kafka encouraged others to quit too, if they believed rumors about him. 

“The future of the business will be one where prejudice based on rumors, hearsay, one’s race/religion/beliefs, or presumed political positions will not be accepted. Thank you,” he wrote. 

Staff contend they aren’t going off of rumors, but Kafka’s own words, like in articles published in Jewish Insider and The Times of Israel. But even closer to home, Kafka’s feelings about development in Detroit made employees uncomfortable. 

“It’s easy for him to sidestep the Zionist allegations, but it’s a lot easier based on his actions to point to just the straight up colonizing (in Detroit),” Delia Diedrich said, pointing to a business card from Kafka’s old media business, Prince Media, that hangs in the hall of the building and reads: “we fill blank space.”

The current tagline for Prince Concepts is “we make space,” Kafka noted Wednesday.

Staff also highlighted an article published in the UCLA’s American Indian Culture and Research Journal on the gentrification of Detroit that cited Kafka’s billboard campaign to get New Yorkers to move to Detroit. 

Former DIB baker Chris Kozelenko worked for Kafka seven years ago at Takoi, a Corktown Thai restaurant that Kafka used to be a partner in. 

“A lot of the things he was saying just so casually about being a white savior was exhausting and tiresome,” Kozelenko said. “It just was gross, because it’s like ‘I’m literally trying to put a plate of som tum Thai [green papaya salad] in front of you, I’m not concerned about your land acquisition plays over the next decade.” 

Kozelenko said he needed to distance himself from Kafka after years of hearing consistent personal stories and narratives about business deals in Detroit. But Kafka denied via email ever having a conversation with Kozelenko beyond “hellos” in passing.

Havard said hearing stories like that makes his “blood boil.”

“I don’t think I like a version of Detroit that supports people like Philip Kafka,” Havard said. “People that look at my home – I’m a lifelong Detroiter – and when Phil talks about going through all these houses, and he sees all these blank canvases, those are my grandma’s houses, my cousin’s houses, those are the houses that I played in, that I grew up in. This is my home, this is my blood, and I don’t like the idea of someone just so eager to erase all that for his own.”

Kafka, in the Wednesday email, said that he’s only purchased land and unoccupied or abandoned industrial buildings for projects in Detroit, never residences or occupied buildings, adding that DIB was the first.

What comes next?

Kafka’s work is based around creating award-winning residential and mixed-use projects including restaurants. But, he is no longer involved with any of the award-winning restaurants he helped create. 

In 2020 he dissolved his partnership with Brad Greenhill who he opened Takoi with, leaving Greenhill the sole owner. The partnership’s dissolution also resulted in the permanent closure of Magnet, a restaurant the two had opened and operated for less than a year in Core City. Also in the Core City park Kafka owns, he used to rent to award-winning Astro Coffee and Ochre Bakery, who were planning an expansion before they permanently closed, citing pandemic-related challenges.  

But Kafka continued on, opening a cafe in April 2023, and now acquiring DIB. And sometime this year, two-time James Beard semifinalist Lady of the House is expected to open next door to the bagel shop, renting the space from Kafka.

Newman, DIB’s previous owner, told BridgeDetroit he sold the business to Kafka, believing it was the best path forward to save people’s jobs and maintain the bagel shop. 

Newman said that after working unpaid for 18 months, funding DIB with his own personal savings, and taking on a second full-time job in the fall, he knew he couldn’t keep DIB running.

“Instead of selling the business to parties interested only in its parts, I chose to sign an agreement with Philip and team because I thought that was the best way to keep DIB open and provide job security for our staff.  Philip and his team took on considerable risk with this agreement,” he said by email. 

“Small business, especially in food, is a highly personal and risky endeavor.  I’m grateful for the support we received. I believe that whatever comes next in this space will continue to serve the community in a meaningful and impactful way.”

Former employees retrieved their personal items from DIB on Monday and took down the pride flag they had hung in the window. 

“We’d like people to know that that thing that we created – the DIB that we created – is over,” said Ewasek. 

Future plans for the space have not yet been determined, Kafka said, but it will be for the community.

Former DIB employees have started a fund to support fellow employees who may be struggling financially in the upcoming weeks. Donations can be made on Venmo to @aroseboyer.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated since publication to include statements provided by Philip Kafka.