Posted on 02/05/2007 8:18:10 AM PST by george76
Before Amendment 42 passed in November, some restaurateurs weren't concerned about a minimum wage increase, but as it turns out, the law is impacting restaurant budgets significantly.
"It's a huge change," said Barb Richard, marketing manager for the Dillon Dam Brewery. "We've had to tighten our belt everywhere, from ads to raises, and cut costs dramatically. (But) there's no way to absorb it completely."
Eric Mamula, owner of Downstairs at Eric's in Breckenridge, said he's paying his waitstaff $75,000 to $80,000 more annually because of the amendment, which calls for waitstaff to earn a minimum of $3.83 an hour, up $1.70 from the previous minimum. When the Dam Brewery's management team analyzed the additional cost, it came up with tens of thousands of dollars a year, ...
"It's already expensive to go out, and it's going to be even more expensive," Mamula said. "I don't know if people realized that when they voted."
Meanwhile, the waitstaff isn't benefiting much.
"They're paying much higher FICA, and we're paying much higher FICA. And the capital for raises isn't there anymore," ...
Perhaps most concerning is the fact that the increase is tied to the Constitution, which means it's no longer in the hands of policy makers.
"To us, it was not well conceived," ... "We could not understand why it belonged in the Constitution..."
(Excerpt) Read more at summitdaily.com ...
The place where I like to go have a drink has gone from $4.50 for a high ball to almost $7 in a little over a year....insane. I go out much less frequently and notice there are lots less people there now.
The owner told them exactly why he was doing it - because of the increase in the minimum wage that Arizonans had voted for - so these kids are learning firsthand about the impact of socialism.
Add custom framing shops to your list of indicator businesses.
OF course FedEx isn't really slowing down.
You, essentially, can determine what the waitstaff makes with your tip. I doubt the person receiving a large tip feels demeaned.
Any place not paying their employees enough to buy a house and send their kids to college is not somewhere I wish to patronize, anyway.
Really? You think McDonald's ought to enable all their employees to buy a house? LOL!! You may be willing to pay $50 for a hamburger, but the rest of us are not. Now the poor burger flippers have NO job at all.
He had a very good education, was very smart and had top minds around him.
Do you think that if the elites paid more heed to his warnings and the Bolshevik Revolution (with resulting rise of Fascism and WWII) did not take place, it would be so bad thing?
I was at a casino in Minnesota waiting for my car to come back from the valet parking. I was talking to one of the attendants. I'd had a good night, and was going to give the guy a good tip ($10 on a $3 valet parking). I was feeling generous. I asked the other guy (who was waiting for the next customer, so I wasn't spending his time that he could have been earning something) what the best tip he'd ever received was. He said that one day, he had a guy who had won over $75,000 and gave him a $1000 tip. For parking the car.
The dealers had to split the tips. So, if you specifically handed a dealer a good tip, they had to share it with all the other dealers. Not as nice a system, but everyone gets some at the end of the night.
Paul
Poor baby. Go home and mommy will kiss it and make it all better.
L
My ex-wife and her sister own a franchise store called Dream Dinners. They have two stores here in Raleigh and Cary, NC. The chain has about 150 stores if I recall. The concept is simple. They have 14 menu items, you go on the website and order 12 units (can do 12 of the same if you'd like), and then go to the store at your scheduled time and assemble the meals. When you leave, you've got 12 ready to cook meals. Costs are a little less than what it would cost to buy the parts and pieces yourself and certainly prep time is minimized. Good business plan.
It's such a good concept that in 2003, there were about 10 chains that were doing this with an average of 2 stores per chain. Now, there are over 300 chains and an average of 12 stores per chain.
It's becoming MUCH more commonplace. Grocery stores are getting on the pre-prepped, ready-to-cook foods. Tyson and several others have started doing pre-prepped meals such as Beef and Gravy (just add potatoes and green beans and you've got a meal), turkey, roast beef and others. Also, they're starting to pre-make the fixings. The sections for these foods used to fit on half a shelf at my grocery store that I shop at. Now, they cover 3 shelves of refrigerator space. That's real market movement considering that I've been using that grocery store for only about a year now.
So, you're right, where the pre-made market is rising rapidly.
Enjoy your brats and hash.
Paul
We have labor unions in the US, but membership has decllined over the years to less than 20% of the workforce. Labor unions can be just as oppressive and corrupt as employers.
You seem to favor a more active and larger role for the government in the relationship between employer and employee with the view that the employer is the villian. You have no appreciation for entrepreneurship and the fact that small businessmen must put their own capital at risk to start up a business and make it profitable. They are the engines of prosperity and the ones who create jobs, not the government.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
My wife has actually been talking about doing this for about six months now. It just may have a VERY big future.
This is a misunderstanding. I am convinced that market economy is needed and that most of employers benefit the common good. I am addressing the anti-worker bias, where the employees are seen as benefactors and workers as recipients, where the corporations are good and unions are bad, where the capital/investment is respected while human labor is reduced to a commodity.
I believe that Free Market Fundamentalism is wrong, that the society should have balance between interests of workers and employers, that mere market is not sufficient to regulate economy and can be a destructive force.
And yes, I think that moderate government intervention and regulation is necessary.
Also I reject the XIX century laissez faire concept night-watchman state. The state is the highest form of social organization and man is a social being by nature.
Returning to the initial phrase: You seem to favor a more active and larger role for the government
I am not sure. Perhaps government is already too "active" and there is no need for "larger role". The question is WHAT role government plays.
What right do you have to dictate what terms free people should agree to?
Your question is ambiguous.
Are you asking "what right do you have to dictate what free people should do" BEFORE they give consent or "what right do you have to dictate to people AFTER they agreed to certain terms"? Should state to be able to tax people? Should state to be able to draft men to the army? Should state be able to pass laws prohibiting or ordering people to do something? Can majority be able to impose its will om minority and if so in what areas?
The answer is NO! Perhaps, the bill of rights should be read. The only justifaction for the things you ask is during a state of emergency.
Yes, but not in economics. It was a young discipline at the time, and few educated people, unless they were specialists, had a good grasp of it.
was very smart and had top minds around him.
Yes, top minds in theology, philosophy, and the natural sciences. Not so much in economics.
Do you think that if the elites paid more heed to his warnings and the Bolshevik Revolution (with resulting rise of Fascism and WWII) did not take place, it would be so bad thing?
IMHO, the Bolshevik Revolution and Fascism would have taken place regardless of whether the elites had followed his recommendations. The corporatism he was advocating was no remedy for the problems facing the west.
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