Free Republic

The owner of a popular waffle shop in West Seattle said she had no choice but to shut down her business after the city’s new minimum wage law went into effect on New Year’s Day — hiking hourly pay to $20.76. Bebop Waffle Shop, which was founded by a former New York City resident more than a decade ago, closed its doors for good on Monday. “I’ve cried every day,” Corina Luckenbach, the waffle shop owner, told Fox 13 TV. Luckenbach, who founded Bebop more than 10 years ago after relocating from New York to the Emerald City, said that...

Businesses are already shutting down over the new law. Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state celebrated the passage of a massive minimum-wage hike in the city of Seattle, but many on social media responded with ridicule and mockery. The far-left government in Seattle jacked up the minimum wage on all businesses beginning the first of January. Some businesses are already shutting down after calculating that the law would force them into insolvency. 'Leftists are blocking opportunity. Again. It's what you authoritarian thugs do best.' "Yesterday, Seattle’s minimum wage officially rose to $20.76 per hour — one of the highest...

Minimum wage effect? Seattle area restaurant jobs have fallen -900 this year vs. +6,200 food jobs in rest of state [ Full title ]. What effect will the eventual 58% increase in labor costs from $9.47 to $15 an hour have on small businesses, including Seattle area restaurants? Actually, it will be more like a 95% increase for many employers to $18.55 an hour once all costs and taxes are added. It's too soon to tell for sure, but there is already some preliminary evidence that April's minimum wage hike to $11 an hour, along with the pending increase of...