A long-standing San Francisco McDonald’s franchise has closed down after 30 years because of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new $20 minimum wage law, the owner said.
The Stonestown Galleria McDonald’s became a casualty of the economy on Sunday; franchise owner Scott Rodrick told ABC7 that it was a “gut-wrenching day” for him and his family.
Rodrick said the closure was related to being unable to negotiate reasonable rent with the building’s landlord, taxes, and the state’s $20 fast food minimum wage that went into effect on April 1.
The previous minimum wage for California fast food workers was $15, more than twice the $7.25 federal minimum wage.
The law, which also created a Fast Food Council that has the power to make future increases to the minimum wage, was signed by Newsom in 2023 to “take one step closer to fairer wages, safer and healthier working conditions.”
Assemblymember Chris R. Holden (D), who introduced the bill, claimed the policy was devised to help a “father or mother feed their children… a student put gas in their car… a grandparent get their grandchild a birthday gift.”
Meanwhile, business owners and restaurant goers are the ones being impacted.
In just the first two months after the wage was raised, approximately 10,000 fast food jobs around the state were slashed, Breitbart News reported.
“It has been a pleasure for my entire team and I to serve the 19th Avenue and Ingleside neighborhoods for more than 30 years,” Rodrick said in a note posted on the door of his closed restaurant.
“All of our valued team members have been offered opportunities to continue working with my restaurant company or at other nearby McDonald’s,” the franchise owner added.
Kerri Harper-Howie, a Los Angeles-based franchisee who owns 21 McDonald’s locations across the state with her sister, said her profits will tank while trying to keep up with the new minimum wage.
Harper-Howie, who employs more than 1,000 Californians, told KTLA 5 that the law does not make economic sense for workers or business owners.
“We, as business owners, are not opposed to minimum wage increases,” she said in the weeks leading up to the law taking effect.
“One of our primary objections is that this wage increase only applies to us,” she continued. “Why isn’t everyone getting an increase if, fundamentally, [the current] wage is not adequate for people to live? Who then are the customers that are going to be able to afford to pay for the food?”
Prices at In-N-Out appear to reflect the choices business owners have had to make to stay afloat. Breitbart News reporting in June that the burger joint’s menu items have “jumped due to the $20 minimum wage.”
FLASHBACK — Joe Biden: “Time to Raise the Minimum Wage” to “at Least $15 an Hour”