Trueturning
Diamond
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2019
Don’t. A fast food place;- burger place
Whole article;
“P. Terry's announced March 1 that it has increased its minimum wage for full-time employees to $15 an hour.
Enlarge
P. Terry's announced March 1 that it has increased its minimum wage for full-time employees to $15 an hour.
COURTESY OF P. TERRY'S BURGER STAND
IN THIS ARTICLE
Food & Lifestyle
Industry
Kathy Terry
Person
Patrick Terry
Person
Restaurants
Topic
Retailing
Industry
Todd Coerver
Person
By Paul Thompson – Assistant managing editor, Austin Business Journal
Mar 1, 2021, 3:57pm EST
While the prospects look dim for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15, P. Terry's Burger Stand is making the move on its own.
The Austin-based restaurant chain announced March 1 that it has implemented a minimum wage of $15 per hour for all of its full-time employees. The increase went into effect in January and applies to all 20 P. Terry's locations in Central Texas, impacting more than 300 employees.
The minimum wage increase resulted in an average 25% pay increase for full-time employees, according to the announcement. That averaged out to $5,000 per year for P. Terry's employees, CEO Todd Coerver said.
"Obviously the feedback from our crews and frontline team members has been phenomenal," Coerver said.
A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question about what the company's minimum wage was before the change.
Founded in 2005 in a 527-square-foot space at South Lamar Boulevard and Barton Springs Road, P. Terry's has quickly built itself into an iconic Austin brand with a reputation for using all-natural ingredients to make standout burgers at affordable prices. The company, which was honored in 2020 at Austin Business Journal's first Family Business Awards, continued its expansion throughout Central Texas last year despite the Covid-19 pandemic, opening five locations over the past 10 months. In 2021, the company plans to enter the San Antonio market for the first time.
P. Terry's began talks to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour last summer, and instituted a 2% price increase on the menu in early September as part of a 45-day test to see the impact on its bottom line. After that "played out the way we had hoped," Coerver said, P. Terry's gathered general managers together in December and informed them of the decision.
The early results have been positive. The company has seen "a lot more high-quality folks walking into our doors wanting to work for us," Coerver said, and despite giving up a couple of points on the cost of labor as a percentage of sales, P. Terry's executives remain confident that the decision will pay off in the long term. The hope is that increased wages lead to a more committed and competent employee base.
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"The result of that should be improved execution," Coerver said.
Coerver credited founders Patrick Terry and Kathy Terry for instilling an employee-first mindset throughout the company. For instance, the Terrys personally gifted employees grocery gift cards and cash during the pandemic, according to the March 1 announcement. The company has also donated more than $1.2 million through its quarterly "Giving Back Days," when all profits from a given date are set aside for a charity.
The Terrys "don't take a lot out of this company," Coerver said.
"As owners, they are also a model for how to do this," he added. "When you invest in your folks like this, obviously it comes with some sacrifice. ... We believe it's going to come back to us in the very near future."
The P. Terry's wage increase comes at a time when Congressional leaders are grappling with a potential increase in the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009.
Democrats have long pushed for a gradual increase to $15 an hour, while Republicans such as Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton have recently attempted to counter with a plan to increase the federal minimum wage to $10 over four years, with additional increases tied to inflation after that.
Major companies such as Amazon, Target and Best Buy have already implemented a $15 minimum wage, and Costco Wholsale Corp. announced last week plans to increase its minimum wage to $16 an hour, up from $15 an hour. But minimum wages are typically lower in fast food, which has thin margins.
A $7.25 minimum wage simply doesn't suffice, Coerver said.
That rings especially true in Austin, where risings costs for needs such as housing have made it much harder for minimum-wage workers to make ends meet.
"We're just at a point where it's long overdue to give our folks a reasonable living wage," Coerver said. "That's what motivated us. We're in one of the most expensive markets in the United States, and it's only getting more expensive."
Coerver said his hope is that the P. Terry's increase can prompt a wider conversation about a living wage in the Texas capital.
"If you have the will to do it, you can find a way to do it," Coerver said. "Obviously, you have to find a way to do it that makes sense for your business. But our hope is that this will help businesses think twice about this.
"Step one is to start planning now. Because it's coming — it's inevitable."
Whole article;
“P. Terry's announced March 1 that it has increased its minimum wage for full-time employees to $15 an hour.
Enlarge
P. Terry's announced March 1 that it has increased its minimum wage for full-time employees to $15 an hour.
COURTESY OF P. TERRY'S BURGER STAND
IN THIS ARTICLE
Food & Lifestyle
Industry
Kathy Terry
Person
Patrick Terry
Person
Restaurants
Topic
Retailing
Industry
Todd Coerver
Person
By Paul Thompson – Assistant managing editor, Austin Business Journal
Mar 1, 2021, 3:57pm EST
While the prospects look dim for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15, P. Terry's Burger Stand is making the move on its own.
The Austin-based restaurant chain announced March 1 that it has implemented a minimum wage of $15 per hour for all of its full-time employees. The increase went into effect in January and applies to all 20 P. Terry's locations in Central Texas, impacting more than 300 employees.
The minimum wage increase resulted in an average 25% pay increase for full-time employees, according to the announcement. That averaged out to $5,000 per year for P. Terry's employees, CEO Todd Coerver said.
"Obviously the feedback from our crews and frontline team members has been phenomenal," Coerver said.
A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question about what the company's minimum wage was before the change.
Founded in 2005 in a 527-square-foot space at South Lamar Boulevard and Barton Springs Road, P. Terry's has quickly built itself into an iconic Austin brand with a reputation for using all-natural ingredients to make standout burgers at affordable prices. The company, which was honored in 2020 at Austin Business Journal's first Family Business Awards, continued its expansion throughout Central Texas last year despite the Covid-19 pandemic, opening five locations over the past 10 months. In 2021, the company plans to enter the San Antonio market for the first time.
P. Terry's began talks to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour last summer, and instituted a 2% price increase on the menu in early September as part of a 45-day test to see the impact on its bottom line. After that "played out the way we had hoped," Coerver said, P. Terry's gathered general managers together in December and informed them of the decision.
The early results have been positive. The company has seen "a lot more high-quality folks walking into our doors wanting to work for us," Coerver said, and despite giving up a couple of points on the cost of labor as a percentage of sales, P. Terry's executives remain confident that the decision will pay off in the long term. The hope is that increased wages lead to a more committed and competent employee base.
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"The result of that should be improved execution," Coerver said.
Coerver credited founders Patrick Terry and Kathy Terry for instilling an employee-first mindset throughout the company. For instance, the Terrys personally gifted employees grocery gift cards and cash during the pandemic, according to the March 1 announcement. The company has also donated more than $1.2 million through its quarterly "Giving Back Days," when all profits from a given date are set aside for a charity.
The Terrys "don't take a lot out of this company," Coerver said.
"As owners, they are also a model for how to do this," he added. "When you invest in your folks like this, obviously it comes with some sacrifice. ... We believe it's going to come back to us in the very near future."
The P. Terry's wage increase comes at a time when Congressional leaders are grappling with a potential increase in the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009.
Democrats have long pushed for a gradual increase to $15 an hour, while Republicans such as Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton have recently attempted to counter with a plan to increase the federal minimum wage to $10 over four years, with additional increases tied to inflation after that.
Major companies such as Amazon, Target and Best Buy have already implemented a $15 minimum wage, and Costco Wholsale Corp. announced last week plans to increase its minimum wage to $16 an hour, up from $15 an hour. But minimum wages are typically lower in fast food, which has thin margins.
A $7.25 minimum wage simply doesn't suffice, Coerver said.
That rings especially true in Austin, where risings costs for needs such as housing have made it much harder for minimum-wage workers to make ends meet.
"We're just at a point where it's long overdue to give our folks a reasonable living wage," Coerver said. "That's what motivated us. We're in one of the most expensive markets in the United States, and it's only getting more expensive."
Coerver said his hope is that the P. Terry's increase can prompt a wider conversation about a living wage in the Texas capital.
"If you have the will to do it, you can find a way to do it," Coerver said. "Obviously, you have to find a way to do it that makes sense for your business. But our hope is that this will help businesses think twice about this.
"Step one is to start planning now. Because it's coming — it's inevitable."
