White Castle warns of price increases, robots
NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - White Castle says it may have to raise prices up to 50% because of New York's new $15 minimum wage.
According to Fox 5 News, the burger joint warns that it may also have to hire far fewer workers and may look into the possibility of using robots instead of workers.
New York lawmakers approved a wage hike that will be phased in by 2018 in New York City and a little later in other parts of the state.
In a recent interview Jamie Richardson, a company vice president, says about 30 percent of every dollar from sales goes to cover hourly worker salaries.
He says with many locations operating on a 1 or 2 percent net profit, automation would be a logical investment over employees.
The Ohio based company has about 50 locations in New York.