A beloved Washington restaurant has been forced to close due to the fallout from a new minimum wage law.
Bepop Waffle Shop in West Seattle closed its doors for the final time on Monday.
The company’s owner, Corina Luckenbach, blamed the closure on the city’s new minimum wage law, which increased the minimum wage to $20.76 per hour.
Luckenbach said her business had already suffered after years of high inflation, but the law, which came into effect on New Year’s Day, was the final straw.
“I cried every day,” says the entrepreneur told Fox 13.
“Financially, this no longer makes sense because the increase would cost me $32,000 more per year,” she explained.
Before the new law, which applied to all businesses regardless of size, the minimum wage was $17.25 per hour if an employee at a small employer earned at least $2.72 per hour in medical benefits or tips.
The change, which also eliminates such tips and benefit credits, puts Seattle’s minimum wage $4 higher than Washington state’s.
Bepop Waffle Shop in West Seattle closed its doors for the final time on Monday
Luckenbach said she believed employees should be paid more, but it wasn’t affordable for her company.
The former New Yorker founded Bebop after moving to Seattle a decade ago.
Lower foot traffic in the city due to increased work from home has also affected the business since the pandemic.
“The stories of what it meant for people to come in and feel safe and welcome, I just didn’t know,” Luckenbach added.
‘I didn’t know how much influence I had on people, and it was very beautiful and cool to discover that.’
Seattle was joined by 48 cities and counties that set their minimum wage to $15 or higher for the first time on January 1.
The highest minimum wage is now in Burien, Washington, where the city’s rate rose from $16.28 to $21.16 per hour for employers with 500 or more employees.
Experts warn that these wage increases could put pressure on retailers and restaurants.
Corina Luckenbach founded the waffle restaurant after moving to Seattle ten years ago
“Minimum wage increases are adding to an overall cocktail of cost increases facing retailers. In response, many will have to raise prices, even if only marginally,” retail expert Neil Saunders of Global Data told DailyMail.com.
“Given that the average rate of increase is relatively modest, I don’t see any companies going bankrupt as a result,” Saunders previously wrote.
‘But in a labor-intensive sector such as retail, even small increases can be difficult. There will be consequences in the form of lower profits, higher prices, lower investments or cost savings.’