Seattle’s Minimum Wage Hike To $20.76 Triggers Another Wave Of Restaurant Closures
Seattle’s progressive experiment with a $20.76 hourly minimum wage is wreaking havoc on the city’s small businesses. Within days of the new law going into effect, at least five beloved eateries have closed their doors, with the local hospitality industry warning that more closures are imminent in 2025.
For many, this wage hike—combined with skyrocketing costs of doing business in the city—is the final blow. The owner of Bel Gatto Bakery in West Seattle posted a heartfelt sign on its door announcing its closure after less than a year in business.
Opening a discretionary spend business in a competitve market with a faltering economy may not have been the smartest move this guy ever make. "Read the room"...😷
@whowasthatmaskedman I see you dropped out of the same second grade classes, AND IN INFERIOR BLUE STATE SCHOOLS.
Resonate THIS, goose stepper. The largest expense for most businesses is LABOR. Raising the minimum wage means ALL wages have to go up, and they have to go up beyond what the employee is worth. When a company cannot afford to pay those flagrant wages, the company closes up.
@carpediem or they're simply laid off/fired because businesses can't afford to pay them; and employees in skilled essential/needed areas quit because they don't think they're getting paid enough vs unskilled labor; then the whole city complains because they can't find a contractor, mechanic, etc.
@NativePortlander1970 Free trade does sound like such a lovely, lofty LIBERTARIAN virtue, (at least the libertarians of the early 90s, before the party became a giant stoner fest.) It's kind of like leaving your house and car unlocked because you can trust everyone in the world not to come in and rob you.
What makes President Trump so unique is the idea that he thinks in terms of the rest of the world following the same international trade laws that the United States follows. If Canada is going to level 250% tariffs on the United States, Trump will not just let this country bend over and take it in the ass.
