A longtime San Francisco McDonald’s has become the latest casualty to California’s new $20 minimum wage, according to reports.
The McDonald’s at the Stonestown Galleria shopping mall, located about eight miles southwest of downtown San Francisco, was permanently shuttered Sunday after more than 30 years serving the area.
“This is a gut-wrenching day for my family,” franchise owner Scott Rodrick said, according to ABC 7.
Rodrick blamed the closure on a number of factors — but said the newly rolled-out law hiking the state-wide minimum wage from $16 to $20 an hour pushed the business over the edge.
Coupled with the landlord refusing to negotiate on long-term rent, high property taxes, and a mall tenant fee — all of which combined to make the Stonestown McDonald’s the most expensive location to operate out of his restaurant company — the new wage hike was too much to keep the lights on.
“It has been a pleasure for my entire team and I to serve the 19th Avenue and Ingleside neighborhoods for more than 30 years,” the franchise owner said in a note posted on their door upon closing.
“All of our valued team members have been offered opportunities to continue working with my restaurant company or at other nearby McDonald’s,” Rodrick added.
Since the new minimum wage was introduced on April 1, numerous businesses have closed up shop across California.
One recent closure included an Arby’s Roast Beef that’s been a fixture on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood for 55 years, which shut its doors earlier in June.
“With inflation, food costs have gone way up and the $20-an-hour minimum wage has been the nail in the coffin,” general manager Gary Husch previously told the Los Angeles Times.
Taco chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill was forced to close dozens of locations across the state in June, only to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy days later.
The fast food chain Fosters Freeze also shuttered a location near Fresno, and directly blamed the new minimum wage for its demise.
In other instances, the cost to raise workers’ pay has been passed directly on to the customer.
Chains like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Starbucks, and Chipotle, have raised their prices by up to 8% in California.
In turn, customer visits to such chains have decreased, according to analytics firm Placer.ai.
