The Topsham man who tried to crowdfund $50,000 to open a new cafe in the space Little Dog Coffee Shop in Brunswick used to occupy has paused his GoFundMe campaign after pushback from the community.
Raffi Morgan Christopher Sulahian, 65, purchased the coffee shop’s equipment after the previous owner closed it in June following a union strike. Sulahian wanted to take over the lease for the cafe, which would have been $5,175 per month, according to the Times Record. He intended to raise the money for rent, payroll, equipment and inventory.
The GoFundMe, which had raised $3,060 as of Friday afternoon, now states, “In addressing all of this turmoil I’ve just decided to just pause and reconsider the wisdom of continuing with the project altogether.”
If Sulahian is unable to open the cafe, he said in the GoFundMe description that all donations made so far will be refunded. He said the donations have been used mostly for electrical and interior redesign.
Jules Walkup is a Report for America corps member. Additional support for this reporting is provided by BDN readers.
