Friday, June 23, 2017
Today's Specials:
MARKETING: Is Your Restaurant Ready for Football Season Kickoff?
It’s that time of the year again! If you’re a diehard football fan, then you know your weekends revolve around the big game. And if you’re a restaurant owner or manager, then you definitely know that you and your team need to be ready for the rush on game day.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Have You Tried a Three Way?
There is nothing more cringe-worthy than an awkward handshake. Luckily for us, politicians are constantly fist-fumbling in public and BBC has caught their favorites on camera. Warning: these handshakes may cause second-hand embarrassment.
The Best and Worst Cities for Rent
Paying rent has been a hot-button issue in many cities where once reasonable rent prices have now skyrocketed to unaffordable costs. Statista mapped out the best and worst cities for renters via infographic, based on household income required to pay rent in select cities.
“It’s Magically Disgusting”
Burger King has made an attempt to compete with Starbuck’s unicorn drinks by adding a new Lucky Charms Milkshake to their menu. The item was reportedly “very unpopular in consumer testing” and the public’s savage social media responses justify just that. Shade thrown.
FAIR PAY DOESN’T DECREASE JOBS
Why it matters to you: Seattle’s wage law lifted restaurant pay without shrinking jobs.
Multiple states have put laws in place that contribute to a fair minimum wage for restaurant workers. The latest study on the topic found that in Seattle, the minimum wage law has led to higher pay for restaurant workers without affecting the overall number of jobs in the industry. The study from the University of California, Berkeley measured employment in food services in relation to wage increases from 2015 to 2016 and found there was no correlation.
The minimum wage law took effect in April 2015 and raised the minimum wage in Seattle gradually until it reaches $15 an hour by 2021 at the latest. Currently, the wage in Seattle ranges from $11 for small business with benefits to $15 for large businesses without benefits.
Although the law lifted restaurant pay without decreasing jobs, gray areas still remain in the system. The Seattle Times examined the issue as it pertains to franchisees, many of which are treated as a “big business” which brings a flood of challenges. One Subway owner explained her staffing problems with the new wage law describing how staffing her franchise became much more expensive, causing her to downsize her staff. Overall this is a monumental step for the restaurant industry and we will likely see similar trends in other cities across the United States.
WHY YOU CAN’T FIND A GROCER NEXT TO A MCD’S
Why it matters to you: Our industry’s history on race is a complicated story.
Government policy has impacts that are many times unintended and can only be understood in hindsight. One such policy was implemented in the late 60’s with SBA loans targeted to African-Americans in poor demographics. Presumably, it was to balance the slate on investment in those areas in the wake of riots and other civil unrest. The outcome was that thousands of fast-food restaurants were able to expand to these neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the advantages of that style of food operation crowded out other food concepts like grocery stores.
Consequently, you find a contributing factor to obesity is access to fast food. This is exacerbated in poorer neighborhoods because it’s the only choice those residents have. Because fast food is more profitable and requires less square footage, they were able to quickly become entrenched in those areas and have never left. In this case, the intention of regulators to balance the scales has had disproportional affects on lower income folks, especially African-Americans. While many, if not most, of those franchises, are also owned by people of color, it still proves that the law of unintended consequences can never be ignored.
