Mr. Pickle's Closes In Davis After Franchisee Compares BLM To KKK

DAVIS, CA — Mr. Pickle's Sandwich Shop in Davis was shut down this week after the franchise owner reportedly compared the Black Lives Matter organization to the Ku Klux Klan and the mafia in an email to employees.

"The BLM is the flip side of the KKK. Their tactics are out of the Mafia play book (sic)," franchisee Mickey Mann wrote, in part. "They are no better than some of the worst oppressive regimes in the world. Equal rights, fairness under the law, and any other buzz phrases they use are not their agenda. Oppression, turmoil and chaos is their agenda."

The email was sent to employees, some of whom wanted to wear Black Lives Matter buttons to work.

Mann said when an employee showed up for a shift wearing the button, he told her to go home. She did, but she returned with a group of protesters.

Another employee who wanted to remain anonymous told KTXL why she quit her job at the Mr. Pickle's on Cowell Boulevard in Davis.

"I felt it was important to wear the button as a small reminder that we are in a time of mourning for George Floyd and all African Americans killed by police and victims of institutionalized racism," the UC Davis student told KTXL. "... Once the ignorance and racism was revealed, I felt it went against my morals to work for a business owner who is deeply racist."

In a video interview, Mann told the news station he now regrets his actions.

"I was very, very wrong putting that in writing," Mann said. "It has cost me my store."

He said for the eight years he owned the Mr. Pickle's franchise, he had a "no-politics" policy.

"That would include any far-right group, it would include a Trump hat, it would include BLM," Mann told KTXL.

When Mr. Pickle's headquarters got wind of Mann's words, the corporate office had some words of its own. Here is a statement posted Wednesday to Mr. Pickle's main Facebook page.

"Mr. Pickles is a franchise network of independently owned and operated shops. Corporate has been notified of the alarming and painful statements made by the owner of the Davis shop to his staff. We made the decision to terminate his franchise and is now permanently closed for business. If that location ever re-opens, it will be under new ownership that upholds our corporate standards. Thank you, Mr. Pickle’s Inc."

As of Wednesday, the sandwich shop had a note taped to the door saying it was closed. According to the Google listing Friday for Mr. Pickle's Sandwich Shop in Davis, the business was permanently closed. The Facebook page for the Davis Mr. Pickle's was no longer active Friday.

See the KTXL video interview and story.