Dissing the neighborhood
A usual takeaway from Marketing 101 was also disastrously ignored in Denver, where residents of the historically black neighborhood of RiNo didn’t like the snooty attitude a local coffee joint has taken toward its home turf. “Happily Gentrifying the Neighborhood Since 2014,” read a sandwich board posted outside Ink! Coffee.
That was on one side of the sign. The other panel read, “Nothing Says Gentrification Like Being Able to Order a Cortado.”
Locals felt the shop was turning up its nose at the neighborhood’s heritage, and making fun of what reports indicated is a shift in the area’s demographics. Those stories don’t quash the notion that RiNo is indeed being gentrified. But the NAACP and offended individuals say the quip from Ink! is disrespectful, and have mounted a series of protests to shut it down.
The sign is no longer posted.