Traded the golden arches for church steeples and dirt roads.
Posted on 07/12/2019 2:36:48 PM PDT by Red Badger
The minimum wage was not the only factor Restaurants Unlimited blamed for their impending bankruptcy. The company also cited a pair of soft restaurant openings and a decline in casual dining.
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Restaurants Unlimited, a Seattle-based chain with restaurant locations in 47 US cities, announced on Sunday it was seeking Chapter 11 protection, citing “progressive” wage laws.
The company, which has operated since the Lyndon Johnson Administration, said rising labor costs—part of a national trend of government-mandated minimum increases—were part of its decision. One Factor of Bankruptcy
“Over the past three years, the company’s profitability has been significantly impacted by progressive wage laws along the Pacific coast that have increased the minimum wage,” Chief Restructuring Officer David Bagley said in court filings, The Seattle Times reports. "As a large employer in the Seattle metro market, for instance, the company was one of the first in the market to be forced to institute wage hikes."
The minimum wage was not the only factor Restaurants Unlimited blamed for their impending bankruptcy. The company also cited a pair of soft restaurant openings and a decline in casual dining.
The announcement, however, mirrors labor trends on the east and west coasts. BLS data show that New York City experienced its sharpest decline in restaurant jobs since 9/11 following its passage of a $15 minimum wage law. In California, a local newspaper recently detailed how an entire business district virtually disappeared following the city’s aggressive minimum wage push.
Restaurants Unlimited’s announcement came a day before the Congressional Budget Office released a report estimating that a House bill designed to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour would cost 1.3 million jobs. Popular, But Economically Destructive
Polls show that minimum wage laws are popular with the American public, yet evidence suggests they adversely impact the most vulnerable in society and were originally designed to keep women and minorities out of labor markets.
Minimum wage laws are less popular with economists, who say they create a surplus of unskilled labor and can actually give employers an unfair bargaining advantage.
Horse meat hasn’t been popular for a few decades
At least not since Merkel went down
Here’s the link to the article about businesses folding in Emeryville, near Oakland. It’s a good look at how increasing minimum wages hurts jobs in small towns.
I see a big trend towards the mom and pop places.
Still my favorite places to eat
My Son with an MBA told me-in very simple terms- that most food businesses need gross revenue of 6 to 7.5 times the cost of every person working, every hour that they work, to marginally cover operational costs. He basically said that every worker at $10 an hour has to produce revenue of $60 to $75 per hour,average, to even more depending on the region.You explained it better, I was thinking 2 cooks, 5 waitresses, manager, that’s a whole lot of flapjacks per hour.
I was in ATL airport last week. I was shocked they had a smoking lounge with a bar that played classic rock music and broadcast poker on the TV directly across from my gate. I had to go in just for the novelty of it.
I flew into ATL out of La Guardia in New York. The NY airport bars all made you order everything from an iPad, and the cocktails were $20.50 each.
There’s a mom and pop place around here that is always packed at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Old Greek kitchen kind of place. Good staple of regular items and rotating daily specials.
The surrounding independent restaurants don’t have half the business.
Don’t know about the Denny’s in Seattle but the wife and I just had breakfast yesterday at the one in Red Bluff, Ca.
Had to come down off the mountain to pick up some tractor parts and get several flats of peaches, nectarines, and pluots.
We both had a full breakfast and the bill was 21 dollars.
Excellent service and the food was good.
Left that nice lady a 10 dollar tip, she was that good.
Thanks Robert A Cook PE. Robotic restaurants may have a future in Washington state.
its the ones at the McDonalds that needed the help....
we ate at a Elmer's in Portland a couple of Sundays ago......large family groups coming in after church....children....it was so nice to see....
I'll have to look up this Scotts in Edmunds.....go there fairly often to see the grand kids....
Anyhow, we went to Best Buy and they were having a sale on car audio. I needed a new head unit for my vehicle. I figured I would just replace everything. A couple of blue shirts were milling around asking customers if they needed assistance. I told the one that I wasn't able to determine what units were actually on sale.
The blue shirt told me, "We're really busy tonight, but you should look up the items on line. We have a better selection there." Then he walked away to mill about in another aisle. Later, I did try to look the items I wanted online. Their website is a mess. I needed four speakers, but the most it would allow me to select was three. I went to Amazon to look for speakers and saw some of the other items were cheaper at Amazon.
I made the entire purchase at Amazon, received it two days later with free shipping. Best Buy is the only car audio install place around here and it wasn't worth it for me to install myself. When I brought in all the equipment for BB to install the manager came over and casually asked me why I made such a large purchase elsewhere.
When I told him the above, he shook his head and said, "Not surprising. This is why we're having so much trouble."
These places bring it on themselves.
Seattle....... no longer America
Very interesting. Someday best buy will end up like Radio Shack.
Clinkerdaggers in Spokane is the best one. Scott’s in Edmonds is good but does not have the wonderful setting that the Spokane one has.
And in my opinion, Scott’s is not good with their steak and prime rib selections. I always eat seafood when I am there. One friend does like the meatloaf, though.
I am hoping that Scott’s stays open since it is in Edmonds, Snohomish county, and not in Seattle, King County. Snohomish county is not as whacky lib as King county is.
A “minimum” of $15/hr doesn’t mean a whole lot if you aren’t employed . . .
Very true and I don’t believe in the minimum wage concept. I think it creates problems but solves none. Having said that I understand why those who DO believe in the concept think an increase is way overdue. The federal minimum of $7.25 per hour is not even close to equaling the 1963 minimum of $1.25 and it is probably not even equal to half that in purchasing power for basic necessities. Of course those who actually do think it works for the good of all should be asking for a minimum of one hundred dollars an hour or more, if they actually believe that AOC is sane then why not?
concourse food is always flipping expensive.
The baby boom is retiring and have less disposable income. So they are eating home more.
Traded the golden arches for church steeples and dirt roads.
Cracker Barrel!.................
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