There is a popular chain of kosher (chalav stam and non pat yisrael) coffe shops in the United States that is owned by Jews as the main owners and also has some non Jewish owners. They run on Shabbos, when I asked the Hechsher organization on this they told me that on Shabbos it is sold to the goi owners.
My question is would this help in places where the stores are located in Jewish neighborhoods? Based on Siman 243 Hilchos Shabbos it seems that we are concerned of maris ayin even when a goi is a complete kablan. Sources are appreciated.
Answer:
As you correctly note, siman 243 teaches us that where a store is known to be Jewish, the store must not be kept open on Shabbos. However, if the non-Jewish ownership is also known, and it is clearly indicated (so that there is no concern that the Jewish party is working on Shabbos), the problem of maris ayin can, under some circumstances, be avoided.
Under special circumstances of significant loss, there is further room for leniency, as the Shulchan Aruch rules (244:6), and the Iggros Moshe (Orach Chaim 4:53) explains that this applies even for cases in which a significant potential gain will be lost.
Note that this issue will not make an actual difference to the kashrus of the products.
