I’ve been an entrepreneur for 40 years in three completely different businesses. One of the goals for each venture has been to make the business better financially and environmentally better for the employees. If a business model relies on less than a living wage for the employees then it’s a flawed model. Just my thoughts.
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It would be great if that were the norm.
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Agreed. And, on that basis, we have many flawed business models in the UK, with employers knowing that welfare benefits will step in - some 40% of recipients of our main benefit, Universal Credit, are in work. Effectively the taxpayer is propping up poor employment practice.
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Can’t say I have worked for or employed tradesman/woman in a flawless system. It is because of flaws that unity is built. If the working environment was capable of a one size fits all model it would also fail. Bravo to those that innovate , bravo to those who follow through on the life blood to that innovation.
We all contribute to the system that runs enterprise in some fashion. Us vs. them is the failure. Failure to recognize both sides serve the whole is just silly…and a waste of every talent.
Dining out is still a luxury in my mind. Supporting the privilege is a prerogative.
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There may be a more current topic on rising prices but I needed to vent and found this one……
I picked up some poke at the by-far best true Hawaiian poke spot in these parts over the weekend. It’s pricier than my favorite closer-by place but really good A large bowl with a few toppings was about $20. I usually pay around $15, so I was curious and checked menu pictures on the lower priced place’s Yelp page. Their price has gone up 35% in the past two years.
Picked up some Pho last night. This place’s pricing has gone up maybe 10% in the same two years…… BUT there’s now a new sign on the register announcing a 4% “service fee” for using a debit or credit card. Interestingly, I used Apple Pay via their Yelp page to pay and there was no fee. I did let them know that paying that way didn’t allow me to leave a tip. I left cash but thought they should know.
Assuming you are not suggesting that price-gouging is appearing in some quarters or even spreading, we’ve noticed that restaurants, whether family-operated or chains, are clearly under financial pressure. Climbing pay scales and kinkier supply chains know few boundaries in an economy under systemic pressure. Complex systems seek equilibrium among all the moving parts; in our little corner of the world we adjust by changing our spending pattern to maintain the overall household outlay – sure, meals may look a bit different from time to time, but we’re still lucky to have plenty of choices to enjoy at any price point.
I’m not suggesting that at all. As someone who owned a retail shop, selling wine, cheese and limited meal items, my first thought in this is to feel for the shop’s owners HAVING to raise prices to stay in business. Raising prices isn’t usually a great way to increase traffic.
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For three years now, we’ve made it a point to return more often to the donut shop, and other family-run storefronts on our route.
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I estimate that just about everywhere I get food from has increased prices by about 33% over the last several years. I get that. The only place I have not seen this is alcohol (go figure).
But we have a new Mexican place in town, and their prices are literally double that of competing establishments, almost approaching the only fine dining place we have here.
CRAZY!
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Possibly already a very high profit margin, so extra costs more easily absorbed?
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anyone who experienced the Arab Oil Embargo should recognize what is happening.
the Embargo was early 1970’s.
inflation hit ~20% in the mid 1980’s.
it takes time for all the incremental costs to fully work their way through the cost chain - and back then doubling/tripling wages because people can’t afford to live in SF did not enter the picture.
it’s going to get a lot worse.
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There are a lot of different ways to chart inflation but by the ones I am most familiar with, US inflation (CPI figures from the BLS) peaked at around 14.75% in March and April of 1980 and then dropped for nearly 8 years. Oil prices did take some time to really impact inflation but there were a multitude of drivers in this case.
The 20% figure you remember may have been the mortgage rate that spiked to a monthly high around 20% around 1981 and 1982. The yearly figures for mortgage rates were just above 18% in the same period.
what were the “multitude” of drivers?
“…calculated using the current Consumer Price Index…”
you do know how that has been manipulated for political reasons, right?
Most cocktails (Manhattans, etc) cost $17-$20 CAD ($14 -$17 USD) before tax and tip at restaurants in Toronto these days, a few dollars more than they cost in 2019.
The non-alcoholic mocktails are in this price range in TO, too.
2 cocktails and 2 shared apps run $100 CAD ($80 USD) anywhere I’ve visited lately after I include tax and tip.
I recently checked the prices at my local pub, since I may host a milestone bday there later this year, and the meals that were $14.99 CAD in 2019, which were around $17.99 last summer, are now $19.99 CAD. To put it into context, a 10 piece McNuggets Combo at a Toronto McD’s is $14.99 before 13% sales tax, and a 2 piece fried chicken dinner at a local chain is $12.79 before tax.
A restaurant that washes its dishes and has servers should be charging more than fast food like McD’s, so the price seems fair.
Start w oil, work around to the impact of the union negotiations’ impact on wages, the Fed Reserve Policy on interest rates and its impact on inflation and the legacy of the effective end of the Bretton Woods agreement. You may disagree with one of these but the fact is they all had some impact.
CPI figures are manipulated?
Of course, numbers are a political creature of late. But they still hunt in the same neighborhood that the truth lies in. Inflation is higher now than it has been in years but it is nowhere near where it was from 1973 to 1981.
My son was bemoaning the increase in in interest rates the past year*. I told him he should be glad he wasn’t in business in 1980. I was working for a major retailer and the cost of financing inventory was around 16%. He thought I’d made it up.
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CPI is manipulated?
Shirley you jest ignorance.
any number of sources start out with "Inflation, if measured by the 19xx measured . . . "
yes, the CPI calculation has been constantly manipulated to produce more politically acceptable results - the real world does not count.
“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley!”
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Three months later . . . prices continue to rise at our usual suspects of family-run places. We’re glad to see them still at it, so we stick around and order favorites, hoping someone who’s never been in there sees us and others at a table and decides to investigate.
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I’ve been giving a midrange, local pub business throughout the pandemic. Most mains had been around $14.99 for most of 2020, crept up to closer to $18 last fall. Now, most mains are $20-$25. They would throw in a chocolate chip cookie during the months when in-restaurant dining wasn’t happening.
2 weeks ago, I decided to get a burger, and upgrade from fries to salad. $19.99 Cdn before tax and tip for the cheeseburger, $4.99 upgrade for a Caesar salad. I was surprised, when I came to pick up my order (takeout), the order hadn’t been placed yet due to staff error .So I waited another 10 minutes. When I got home, I found that the salad was the size of a deck of cards. So, my cheeseburger (while pretty good) and very small okay Caesar was a $24.98 plus tip plus tax meal, so $30. I inhaled the meal in about 3 minutes.
Takeout burgers at the new Fatburger at Bloor and Bathurst start at $12 before tax. My last McD’s quarter pounder with cheese was around $7 Cdb including tax.
Duke of York Pub prices in June 2023
The next night, I got a 13 inch 3 topping pizza, from a place called Blondie’s, which came to $25 including tax before tip. I find this steep. The amount of pizza was roughly equivalent to 2 slices at Eataly or Badiali’s.
The slices at Eataly, or at Sud Forno, which run around $8-10 a slice, might be equivalent value.
I think I will just buy 1 or 2 slices from pizzerias that sell by the slice, rather tha ordering a whole pizza , when it’s a meal for one, from now on.
Last week, I decided to get an arugula salad, vegetarian pasta and fried calamari from a local Italian restaurant, again , to give an indie restaurant some business. $76 before tip. I did have some leftovers for the next day. I tend to order a but more than I need so there will be something in the fridge.
Last night, I considered getting Fish and Chips at my upscale local pub, but decided against it. This upscale pub is one of the nicer pubs in Toronto. I don’t feel like spending $40 or $50 on Sunday night takeout. So, after googling, I ended up walking over to Eataly.
Prices at The Oxley in Yorkville, Toronto, June 2023
I’ve been getting takeout from Eataly the last 3 nights because I don’t have time to cook, and can figure out a balanced dinner from their reheat -at -home section for around $30-$35 per dinner. Last night, the spring salad was $12.90, lentils around $10.90, chicken Valdostana $10.90 the night before.
I know I could go the cheaper and more cheerful route with fast food or some cheaper options.I can’t handle the salt at most fast food restaurants lately, and I find the Korean takeout and shawarma shops, which is cheaper and more generous than the pubs and Italian restaurants near me, too salty for me.
I often find myself looking for a takeout dinner around 9 pm. A lot of restaurants in Toronto ,that are open until 10 pm or 11 pm will not prepare takeout after around 8:30 pm. After 9 pm, the takeout around Yorkville, The Annex and Seaton Village is often limited to fast food, pizza, shawarma, Korean and Chinese food.
Eataly in Toronto closes at 10 pm.
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