Help Us Bring Coffee Back to Asteroid Vinyl Cafe

Hey Asteroid fam,

If you've been following us, you may have noticed that things have been a little... off lately.

Two months ago, we had to stop serving coffee because our coffee operation was not properly permitted. We've stopped service and are now working to get the proper permits and approvals in place so we can legally bring coffee back.

We take responsibility for getting this corrected. But the unexpected cost has put a real strain on our small business — and we need some help getting through it.

A little bit about us:

We're Asteroid Vinyl Cafe, a small, Latino-owned record store and specialty coffee shop in Inglewood, California.

We opened in March 2024, and we're proud to say that we were the first record store to open in Inglewood in over 30 years and the first Latino-owned specialty coffee shop in our city.

We opened with an idea: to create the kind of place we wished existed in our neighborhood.

Both of us — Mars and Joe — are from Inglewood. We love this city, we love music, and we love coffee. Tired of having to leave our community to find cool places to shop, listen, gather, and experience things that felt like us, we created Asteroid.

And we opened Asteroid at a pretty pivotal moment for Inglewood.

Our city was — and still is — experiencing massive change. New stadiums, development, rising costs, and a rapidly changing landscape were transforming the community we grew up in.

We didn't want to just watch those changes happen around us.

We wanted to claim a little space for ourselves and our community within that change.

We wanted to create a place where people who grew up here could see themselves reflected, while also welcoming the people who were discovering Inglewood for the first time.

That's what Asteroid was built to be.

Today, Asteroid is home to more than 3,000 records, a monthly Artist of the Month program, affordable music, and a coffee program inspired by our Latino backgrounds — including our Cafe de Olla Latte, Guayaba Rose Matcha, Jamaica Black Tea, and Tamarindo Matcha Tonic.

But Asteroid has become about much more than records and coffee.

It became a place for people to gather.

A place to discover music. Support local artists. Meet a friend. Go on a date. Spend an afternoon. Or just exist for a while.

And then we lost our coffee.

Coffee became a huge part of how we kept Asteroid running.

So when we had to stop serving it, the financial impact was immediate.

And honestly, the emotional impact was too.

We also want to acknowledge that we've been opening inconsistently since the coffee corner closed. We're sorry about that.

We're also sorry that we didn't fold you all in sooner about what was happening.

We've been dealing with the financial stress of losing a major part of our business while also trying to navigate the emotional toll that came with it. Unfortunately, we didn't always have the capacity to show up for Asteroid the way we want to — and we know that has been frustrating and disappointing for the people who have supported us.

We hear you.

We're working on it.

And we're asking for your help while we do.

What we're raising money for:

Our goal is to raise enough money to properly permit our coffee operation and make the improvements necessary to get back up and running.

Your contributions will help cover things like:

Permits and application fees

Required plumbing and other improvements

Equipment and installation

Professional services and plans

Inspections and health department requirements

Other costs necessary to legally resume coffee service

Getting coffee back isn't just about getting lattes back on the menu.

It's about getting an important part of Asteroid's revenue back, stabilizing the business, and giving us a real shot at getting back to being the consistent, welcoming neighborhood space we've worked so hard to build.

If Asteroid means something to you...

Maybe you've found a $10 record here that you absolutely love.

Maybe you've discovered an artist through our Artist of the Month wall.

Maybe you've had a first date here, met a friend here, or made Asteroid part of your Saturday routine.

Maybe you just appreciate having a place in Inglewood that feels like home.

Whatever Asteroid means to you, we're asking you to help us keep it here.

If you can donate, thank you.

If you can't, sharing this fundraiser is incredibly helpful.

And if you can't do either — come see us. Buy a record. Tell a friend. Share a post. We mean it.

We built Asteroid because we believe Inglewood deserves spaces where people can gather, discover something new, support local artists, and feel like they belong.

We still believe that.

Help us get properly permitted.

Help us bring coffee back.

Help us keep Asteroid Vinyl Cafe in Inglewood.

With love,

Mars & Joe

Asteroid Vinyl Cafe