Popular Restaurant Unable to Survive Even One Day of New $20.76 Minimum Wage Law
in Seattle, Washington, a new minimum wage law increased the hourly pay to $20.76 on January 1, 2025. This change forced some businesses to close, including the Bebop Waffle Shop, owned by Corina Luckenbach, who initially expressed support for the minimum wage increase in blue states”>minimum wage hike despite its impact on her restaurant. Luckenbach stated that the increase would add $32,000 to her annual expenses, making it financially unfeasible to continue operating. She publicly announced the closure on social media, expressing sadness over the loss of a safe space for her customers, particularly those in the queer community.while she acknowledged the importance of higher wages for employees, Luckenbach also lamented the unintended consequences of such policies, highlighting a disconnect between good intentions and real-world outcomes in her community. The situation raises questions about the effectiveness of progressive policies that, despite aims to help workers, can lead to job losses and business closures.
As the city of Seattle, Washington, hiked minimum wages to $20.76 per hour on New Year’s Day, some businesses had to close their doors, including one restaurant whose owner somehow still supports the new law.
The increased minimum wage took effect on the first day of 2025, scrapping the previous rule saying businesses could pay workers $17.25 per hour as long as they also made at least $2.72 per hour in tips or medical benefits, according to a report from KCPQ-TV.
The outlet interviewed Corina Luckenbach, who ran the Bebop Waffle Shop but was forced to shutter the business permanently because of the new measure.
“This is financially just not going to make sense anymore,” she described to the outlet. “Because, just for me, the increase would cost me $32,000 more dollars a year.”
A lengthy post on the Bebop Waffle Shop Instagram page offered similar reflections, but also the strange admission that Luckenbach still supports the very law which put her out of business.
“Bebop is closing after 10.5 years! Wow, I can’t believe this day has come,” Luckenbach announced.
“I hate to close a safe space for queer people at this time but the money just isn’t there after the minimum wage increase (which I fully support),” she announced in the post, which was made in November to inform customers that their last day of business would be New Year’s Eve.
“My hope as a boss has been that every employee leaves better than when they started and breaking the news to them split my heart,” Luckenbach continued.
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Luckenbach likewise made clear to KCPQ that she believes employees should be paid more, but said she could not afford that increased level of pay.
“Especially after the election, I think the hardest thing for me to close has been taking away a safe place for people,” she repeated to the outlet.
“The stories of what it meant to people to come in and feel safe and feel welcomed, I just didn’t know. I didn’t know how much I affected people, and it’s been really beautiful and cool to find that out.”
Perhaps Luckenbach should have been less concerned about the supposed harm that would come from the nation’s capital, presumably because President-elect Donald Trump and the Republicans took power, and more concerned about the harm coming from her own city.
Donald Trump was not the one who put her employees out of work. The leftist lawmakers in Seattle, who appear to agree with her politics, were the ones who put her employees out of work.
That is far too often the case with progressive policies.
Those policies may have a veneer of compassion and empathy, but they often harm the very people they claim to be helping.
Perhaps this small business owner will notice these realities and maybe even waffle on her support.
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