Does Minimum Wage Increase Help Or Hurt The Appraisal Business?

[Randolph Kinney]

30% drop in business during the past 5 years can't be blamed on wages....

No but the straw that broke the camel's back was the increase in the minimum wage, according to the article.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

The examples of store closings iof 2018/2019 is not due to high minimum wages since that has yet to happen....

State minimum wage increase forces redemption center closure

January 5, 2019
BANGOR, Maine — Opponents of Maine's minimum wage increase’s worst fear is coming true.

While the increase puts more money in employee’s pockets, it is also forcing some employers out of business.

The Bangor Redemption and Beverage Center shut its doors this week after 36 years of business.

The "main thing causing this closure is the increase in minimum wage,” said the Bangor redemption center’s owner, Paul Baron.

Baron said he knew it was only a matter of time until he would be forced to close after the state’s legislature raised the minimum wage beginning in 2017, to $9 an hour.

Since then, the minimum wage has increased by a dollar a year and will cap at $12 an hour in 2020.

"With the increase of minimum wage, we just have no way to recoup that additional expense,” said Baron.

https://www.newscentermaine.com/art...osure/97-b24202ca-4427-42ee-83e1-3cd157774a2e

 

[Randolph Kinney]

The examples of store closings iof 2018/2019 is not due to high minimum wages since that has yet to happen....

Papa Gino’s could be minimum wage test case

NOVEMBER 06, 2018
Could Papa Gino’s be the tip of the iceberg lettuce when it comes to the state’s new minimum-wage rules?

The pizza chain’s parent company in Dedham filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today after suddenly closing 47 Papa Gino’s pizzerias and 45 D’Angelo sandwich shops, terminating some 1,100 employees in the process. Chief financial officer Corey Wendland pointed to one big reason for his company’s need for more dough: minimum-wage increases across many of its markets, combined with higher health insurance expenses.

Because Papa Gino’s operates in only four states, it’s not hard to figure out which “markets” are being referenced in Wendland’s court affidavit. The mandatory minimum rose over three years to $11 an hour in 2017 in the company’s home state of Massachusetts. The minimum wage in Connecticut rose from $9.60 to $10.10 in 2017. Rhode Island followed suit a year later, raising the minimum wage to $10.10, and it goes up to $10.50 next year. (New Hampshire, meanwhile, doesn’t have a state minimum, and instead tracks the federal floor, currently $7.25 an hour.)

Of course, the increases aren’t over yet in Massachusetts. As part of a “grand bargain” settlement between business and labor interests, state lawmakers approved another big hike in June that will drive the minimum up to $15 an hour, over the course of five years, starting in January.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/busines...e-test-case/nbdLAgn1IDYUCWTzJv04sO/story.html

Another one bites the dust, hey?

 

[ucbruin]

Owner cites minimum wage hike in closing of landmark Boston restaurant opened in 1827

January 04, 2019
Durgin-Park, the landmark Boston restaurant established in 1827 when John Quincy Adams was president, is closing — and the owner is citing the recently passed $15 minimum wage law in Massachusetts as one of the reasons.

The Boston Globe reported, "The Faneuil Hall restaurant will close on Jan. 12, according to restaurant manager Kenneth Thimothee, who cited financial reasons including an increased minimum wage. 'It’s very unfortunate, but the costs are too high,' he said."

Weinstein says the dwindling head count, increase in minimum wage and health care costs, the expensive upkeep of an old building and competition from the growing Seaport District were all factors in the restaurant's downfall."

Economic studies on minimum wages throughout the world, while not unanimous, have overwhelmingly concluded that increasing the minimum wage leads to fewer jobs, particularly among the lowest-skilled workers.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...-of-landmark-boston-restaurant-opened-in-1827

Demise of Durgin-Park a symptom of challenges facing small restaurants

"“It’s a confluence of a number of things creating an environment where it’s nearly impossible for restaurants to remain profitable,” he said. “Ninety-five cents of every dollar that comes in the door goes out to pay expenses. The rents are crazy, the cost of doing business is skyrocketing, and there’s more restaurant seats in the marketplace than ever before.”"

"“Rents in the Seaport have risen about 400 percent in the last 10 years. How do restaurants keep up with it? They don’t. It’s really tightening the noose for small restaurants,” Lupoli said. “We don’t have the ability to continue to raise prices on our menus. The public won’t stand for it.”"

“With the development of the Seaport, there’s been a proliferation of restaurants there,” said Jim Malinn, general manager of the Union Oyster House, which was built in 1826 near Faneuil Hall. “There’s more competition, so it keeps you on your toes and makes you put your best effort forward. But I think the novelty of the Seaport is balancing off now.”

If so, it could be because of soaring rents there, one expense the Union Oyster House hasn’t had to worry about because its owners also own the property,..."







https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/0...mptom-of-challenges-facing-small-restaurants/

 

[ucbruin]

No but the straw that broke the camel's back was the increase in the minimum wage, according to the article.

No it wasn't....

 

[Randolph Kinney]

The examples of store closings iof 2018/2019 is not due to high minimum wages since that has yet to happen....

Walmart hikes minimum wage, announces layoffs on same day

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Walmart on Thursday said it will raise entry-level wages for U.S. hourly employees to $11 an hour in February as it benefits from last month’s major corporate tax cut and on the same day said it will shut stores and lay off thousands of workers.

The world’s largest retailer and private employer, officially called Wal-Mart Stores Inc, will shutter 63 of its Sam’s Club discount warehouses, or about one tenth of the chain overall, according to a senior company official who declined to be named.

Around 50 of those stores will be shut permanently after a review of profitability and up to 12 more will be shut and reopened as e-commerce warehouses, the person said.

Every Sam’s Club store employs about 150 workers, bringing the total number of affected jobs to about 7,500, the person said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...e-announces-layoffs-on-same-day-idUSKBN1F01N8

 

[ucbruin]

Papa Gino’s could be minimum wage test case

NOVEMBER 06, 2018
Could Papa Gino’s be the tip of the iceberg lettuce when it comes to the state’s new minimum-wage rules?

The pizza chain’s parent company in Dedham filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today after suddenly closing 47 Papa Gino’s pizzerias and 45 D’Angelo sandwich shops, terminating some 1,100 employees in the process. Chief financial officer Corey Wendland pointed to one big reason for his company’s need for more dough: minimum-wage increases across many of its markets, combined with higher health insurance expenses.

Because Papa Gino’s operates in only four states, it’s not hard to figure out which “markets” are being referenced in Wendland’s court affidavit. The mandatory minimum rose over three years to $11 an hour in 2017 in the company’s home state of Massachusetts. The minimum wage in Connecticut rose from $9.60 to $10.10 in 2017. Rhode Island followed suit a year later, raising the minimum wage to $10.10, and it goes up to $10.50 next year. (New Hampshire, meanwhile, doesn’t have a state minimum, and instead tracks the federal floor, currently $7.25 an hour.)

Of course, the increases aren’t over yet in Massachusetts. As part of a “grand bargain” settlement between business and labor interests, state lawmakers approved another big hike in June that will drive the minimum up to $15 an hour, over the course of five years, starting in January.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/busines...e-test-case/nbdLAgn1IDYUCWTzJv04sO/story.html

Another one bites the dust, hey?

Papa Gino's food is crap...

It's like Taco Bell or Dell Taco in SoCal....
With so many Mexican restaurants in SoCal....

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Demise of Durgin-Park a symptom of challenges facing small restaurants

"“It’s a confluence of a number of things creating an environment where it’s nearly impossible for restaurants to remain profitable,” he said. “Ninety-five cents of every dollar that comes in the door goes out to pay expenses. The rents are crazy, the cost of doing business is skyrocketing, and there’s more restaurant seats in the marketplace than ever before.”"

"“Rents in the Seaport have risen about 400 percent in the last 10 years. How do restaurants keep up with it? They don’t. It’s really tightening the noose for small restaurants,” Lupoli said. “We don’t have the ability to continue to raise prices on our menus. The public won’t stand for it.”"

“With the development of the Seaport, there’s been a proliferation of restaurants there,” said Jim Malinn, general manager of the Union Oyster House, which was built in 1826 near Faneuil Hall. “There’s more competition, so it keeps you on your toes and makes you put your best effort forward. But I think the novelty of the Seaport is balancing off now.”

If so, it could be because of soaring rents there, one expense the Union Oyster House hasn’t had to worry about because its owners also own the property,..."

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/0...mptom-of-challenges-facing-small-restaurants/

The Boston Globe reported, "The Faneuil Hall restaurant will close on Jan. 12, according to restaurant manager Kenneth Thimothee, who cited financial reasons including an increased minimum wage. 'It’s very unfortunate, but the costs are too high,' he said."

Last thing that happened was the increase in minimum wage. Too bad, if the state had not raided the minimum wage and the business closed, you would have a point.

But the last thing that happened was an increase in the minimum wage so you have not point.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Papa Gino's food is crap...

It's like Taco Bell or Dell Taco in SoCal....
With so many Mexican restaurants in SoCal....

Yes, that is the reason, crap food and a raise in the minimum wage. Close 47 stores and lay off 11,000 employees.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

The examples of store closings iof 2018/2019 is not due to high minimum wages since that has yet to happen....

Higher minimum wage in Minnesota hurts those it's supposed to help
Research shows negative effect, especially compared with Wisconsin.

Nationwide the “fight for $15” movement to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour has gained momentum, with several municipalities, including Minneapolis, adopting plans for such minimum-wage hikes, and St. Paul soon to follow suit. Those who advocate for such policies should learn from the experience of past minimum-wage hikes.

In particular, the state of Minnesota’s experience shows that minimum-wage increases lead to employment losses for precisely those low-wage workers the policy is designed to benefit.

The contrast between policies and labor market outcomes in Minnesota and Wisconsin shows the effects of the minimum-wage increases. My research shows that, beginning in 2014, Minnesota began a series of minimum-wage increases that in less than four years increased the effective minimum wage by 33 percent. By contrast, Wisconsin increased its state minimum wage in 2010 to keep pace with the federal minimum wage, but has not increased it since.

The minimum-wage increases had a substantial effect on the labor market in Minnesota. Before the wage hikes, 4.7 percent of Minnesota’s hourly workforce earned the minimum wage or less, but by the time of the increase in 2016 this share had more than tripled to 15.4 percent. The increase in affected workers was heavily concentrated among young workers and workers in the restaurant industry — and both of these groups experienced employment losses.

However, after Minnesota began its minimum-wage increases in 2014, there was a big fall in youth employment, while there was an increase in Wisconsin over the same period.

Youth employment averaged 9 percent lower, a reduction of 35,000 young workers, in Minnesota in the three years following the minimum-wage increases, compared with the preceding three years. During the same span, youth employment increased by 10.6 percent, or 43,000 jobs, in Wisconsin.

http://www.startribune.com/higher-m...-hurts-those-it-s-supposed-to-help/488770191/