• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Log In
Itemlive

Itemlive

North Shore news powered by The Daily Item

  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Police/Fire
  • Government
  • Obituaries
  • Archives
  • E-Edition
  • Help
This article was published 7 year(s) and 9 month(s) ago
The White Rose Coffee Shop in Lynn. (Jim Wilson)

White Rose owner: ‘I’ve lost my business and I’ve lost my daughter’

tgrillo

October 18, 2017 by tgrillo

LYNN — Less than a week after controversial comments about police from the daughter of a Central Square coffee shop owner went viral, the one-year-old shop is closing.

“I’ve lost my business and I’ve lost my daughter … I don’t know how this story just keeps building, but I need people to leave me alone,” said Kato Mele, owner of the White Rose Coffeehouse. “I’m closing my business so I can stop being harassed.”

The final straw came last night, she said, when she arrived home to find a TV crew in her driveway.

Last weekend, Sophie CK, Mele’s 23-year-old daughter, posted on her personal Facebook page that she would never host a “Coffee with a Cop” event at her family’s establishment.

Her posting ignited a debate that got ugly when Sophie called police bullies and racist killers. The response was swift by others who defended police and said the shop should be boycotted.

Mele apologized for Sophie’s remarks, fired her, and invited police to her shop on Monday to make amends. But the police did not show, and the usual morning crowd never materialized either.

By Tuesday night, Mele had had enough.

“This is completely out of control,” she said. “I just want to be left alone.”

  • tgrillo
    tgrillo

    View all posts

Related posts:

No related posts.

Primary Sidebar

Advertisement

Sponsored Content

How Studying Psychology Can Equip You To Better Help Your Community

Solo Travel Safety Hacks: How to Use eSIM and Tech to Stay Connected and Secure in Australia

Advertisement

Upcoming Events

1st Annual Lynn Food Truck & Craft Beverage Festival presented by Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce

September 27, 2025
Blossom Street, Lynn,01905, US 89 Blossom St, Lynn, MA 01902-4592, United States

2025 GLCC Annual Golf Tournament

August 25, 2025
Gannon Golf Club

A Pirate Adventure!! with the Children’s Department

July 28, 2025
5 N Common St, Lynn, MA, United States, Massachusetts 01902

Adult Book Club: Little Fires Everywhere

July 29, 2025
Lynn Public Library

Footer

About Us

  • About Us
  • Editorial Practices
  • Advertising and Sponsored Content

Reader Services

  • Subscribe
  • Manage Your Subscription
  • Activate Subscriber Account
  • Submit an Obituary
  • Submit a Classified Ad
  • Daily Item Photo Store
  • Submit A Tip
  • Contact
  • Terms and Conditions

Essex Media Group Publications

  • La Voz
  • Lynnfield Weekly News
  • Marblehead Weekly News
  • Peabody Weekly News
  • 01907 The Magazine
  • 01940 The Magazine
  • 01945 The Magazine
  • North Shore Golf Magazine

© 2025 Essex Media Group