kicked in the ass by your own stupidity
 

Ordinarily, this would be just another story about a small business going under due to regulations, but in this case, Borderlands was a big supporter of the $15 minimum wage movement.

From the Borderland?s blog:

?In November, San Francisco voters overwhelmingly passed a measure that will increase the minimum wage within the city to $15 per hour by 2018. Although all of us at Borderlands support the concept of a living wage in principal and we believe that it?s possible that the new law will be good for San Francisco ? Borderlands Books as it exists is not a financially viable business if subject to that minimum wage. Consequently we will be closing our doors no later than March 31st. The cafe will continue to operate until at least the end of this year.


$15 Now Supporters Close Book Store Over Minimum Wage Hike | Progressives Today

Many businesses can make adjustments to allow for increased wages. The cafe side of Borderlands, for example, should have no difficulty at all. Viability is simply a matter of increasing prices. And, since all the other cafes in the city will be under the same pressure, all the prices will float upwards. But books are a special case because the price is set by the publisher and printed on the book. Furthermore, for years part of the challenge for brick-and-mortar bookstores is that companies like Amazon.com have made it difficult to get people to pay retail prices. So it is inconceivable to adjust our prices upwards to cover increased wages.

The change in minimum wage will mean our payroll will increase roughly 39%. That increase will in turn bring up our total operating expenses by 18%. To make up for that expense, we would need to increase our sales by a minimum of 20%. We do not believe that is a realistic possibility for a bookstore in San Francisco at this time.?

How does anyone sell books now? Sort of like opening a did store.

A book store closing = "kicked in the ass"

offer the workers free tents and food :2 cents::2 cents: :1orglaugh :Oh crap the area is fucking expensive to live

Huh? Majority of people prefer books over ebooks.
Plus book sales declined much less than adult paysites. So before asking this question ask the same about paysites.

let me splain that to you Lucy.... rising payroll 39% is forcing the store to close

yeah, that's why i said a store closing = "kicked in the ass"

You prefer socializing business expenses with your tax dollars?

I buy 2-3 hardcover books a month. The only ebook I have ever read was one recommended by MaDalton. Excellent book, horrible way to read it.


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im sure alot of places will end up closing :2 cents::2 cents::2 cents:

If a business cannot survive, it closes...and that means "kicked in the ass" I guess.

agree, we all stare at a screen 24/7 already. If im reading im not staring at a screen some more, fuck that.

Price printed by publisher? Here in Finland it is solved with high tech solution; price sticker put on top of that printed price or sometimes elsewhere despite of that printed price.

Does the Amazon sell the books based on printed price? I don't think so.

Just cause you read books doesn't mean having a bookstore in one of the most expensive real estate markets is viable

That'd be like me running my obsolete paysites on $1000 per Mbps hosting while my competition runs it off $1 per Mbps hosting