Pizza shop that paid ‘fair wages’ closing 2 years after it opened — not enough money to stay in biz

[Frank Cannon]

http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/10/25/pizza-shop-that-paid-fair-wages-closing-2-years-after-it-opened-not-enough-money-to-stay-in-biz/

Two years ago, a popular pizza shop in Boston opened its doors promising fair wages to its employees. On Wednesday, Dudley Dough announced it will close at the end of the year, the Boston Globe reported.

A fair wage, also called a living wage, is a wage that is high enough to provide a normal standard of living.

Regulars at the restaurant say they’re losing a community resource and a singular business based on a premise of economic justice and healthy food, according to the Globe report.
What’s the story?

The restaurant pitched itself as “pizza with a purpose,” according to the Globe, the restaurant offered above-average pay as well as culinary and leadership training.

Dudley Dough is an offshoot of Haley House, a nonprofit organization based in Boston’s South End and Roxbury neighborhoods, that provides food and housing to low-income residents.

The shop is popular among residents in the area, but it’s not breaking even and that puts stress on Haley House.

“The challenge for Dudley Dough was to support itself,” Bing Broderick, Haley House executive director told the Globe. “The pizza shop attempted to put a social enterprise model into action.”

An analysis of the business’s operations and trends, the Haley House board determined that it could not continue to subsidize the pizza shop without jeopardizing its own efforts, according to The Globe.

“I don’t think anyone is looking at it as a failure,” said Luther Pinckney, a team leader at Dudley Dough, which is in the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building. “It’s an experiment, and some very good things came out of that, such as skill-building for staff and being in this building at this time of gentrification and change in this community.”

[Sanguine]

Shouldn't this be in the "Ridiculous Items" thread?

[jmyrlefuller]

It’s an experiment, and some very good things came out of that, such as skill-building for staff

Doesn't this shutdown inherently mean that the skills they're teaching aren't worth the money the workers need? Who really is going to pay $15 an hour to a pizza maker?

It would be better to find opportunities where the going rate is a living wage and train people for those. The problem is, those opportunities are increasingly rare.

[mountaineer]

I don't want pizza with a purpose.  I want affordable pizza that tastes good.

[Sanguine]

Doesn't this shutdown inherently mean that the skills they're teaching aren't worth the money the workers need? Who really is going to pay $15 an hour to a pizza maker?

It would be better to find opportunities where the going rate is a living wage and train people for those. The problem is, those opportunities are increasingly rare.

Unskilled trainees are going to be paid at entry level.  That's not a living wage for most of us.  They're not worth a living wage until they get their skills and work ethics up to par.

[DCPatriot]

I don't want pizza with a purpose.  I want affordable pizza that tastes good.

Speaking of which... (OT, sort of)

Everybody in the know, knows that Buffalo, NY is the 'Junk-Food Capital' of the US.  Some say that it's because of the sheer number of different European immigrants that arrived in the early 20th Century.

Whether it's pizza, hot dogs, roast beef on kimmelwech rolls....Buffalo is #1.

So, my brother owned several take-out sandwich/pizza shops and was about to open in Maryland, where his son resides.

There was no way he could duplicate his pizza dough because the Maryland water is different than Western New York's water.

Short of trucking it in, twas water that killed expansion.

edit to add:  that was 20 years ago.   Today, the cost of mozzarella cheese would be the culprit.   

[stephen50right]

"Let's see, do I put the sauce on the pizza first, or the cheese first?"

Those are tough decisions easily worth $15 an hour and more.

[Cyber Liberty]

I Googled the place and looked at their menu.  It was all about the politics, the food was secondary.  And that's why it collapsed.  There's a lesson here, and it's not what they're pushing.  "Keep your eye on the product."

Here's the Menu.

[Frank Cannon]

Speaking of which... (OT, sort of)

Everybody in the know, knows that Buffalo, NY is the 'Junk-Food Capital' of the US.  Some say that it's because of the sheer number of different European immigrants that arrived in the early 20th Century.

Whether it's pizza, hot dogs, roast beef on kimmelwech rolls....Buffalo is #1.

Bullshit. It's because everybody there is a fat drunken slob. They sit around eating, drinking and watching the Bills lose in the snow.

[mountaineer]

I Googled the place and looked at their menu.  It was all about the politics, the food was secondary.  And that's why it collapsed.  There's a lesson here, and it's not what they're pushing.  "Keep your eye on the product."

Here's the Menu.

Exactly. I'll have an overpriced cup of coffee with a side of self-righteousness, please.

[Frank Cannon]

Exactly. I'll have an overpriced cup of coffee with a side of self-righteousness, please.

LOL. Just looking at the first page of the menu has one confused whether one is purchasing food or attending an College Communists rally.

[Cyber Liberty]

LOL. Just looking at the first page of the menu has one confused whether one is purchasing food or attending an College Communists rally.

My point exactly.  How much is a cheese & sausage pizza to go? I read the whole thing and I still don't know.  IT DOESN'T EVEN LOOK LIKE THEY OFFER SAUSAGE.  In fact, they don't seem to offer anything besides Margarita pizza and "the day's special."

[Frank Cannon]

My point exactly.  How much is a cheese & sausage pizza to go? I read the whole thing and I still don't know.  IT DOESN'T EVEN LOOK LIKE THEY OFFER SAUSAGE.  In fact, they don't seem to offer anything besides Margarita pizza and "the day's special."

I see that. If you want anything further than the Margarita you have to spin the roulette wheel and hope the "locally sourced" shit they find is edible. Considering it is Boston, you'll probably end up with 4 day old cod.

[Cyber Liberty]

I see that. If you want anything further than the Margarita you have to spin the roulette wheel and hope the "locally sourced" shit they find is edible. Considering it is Boston, you'll probably end up with 4 day old cod.

It looks like Vegan is King.  I'm sure they always offer Lentils.  No wonder they went toes-up, it's a hippie joint.

[LMAO]

 The law of economics wins again over good intentions and social justice

[rangerrebew]

Liberal Pizza Parlor Goes Belly Up After Social Justice ‘Fair Wage’ Bankruptcy
By Warner Todd Huston October 26, 2017

 

Liberals are famous for scolding the business sector for being hateful to their employees and only caring about money grubbing profits and they always think they know how to do it better.

Well, the liberal owners of one pizza joint in Boston took matters in their own hands to create a business based on “social justice” policies and its failure after only two years is a perfect example of liberals being mugged by reality.

Hailing themselves as the most “caring” business owners in America, the shop’s absurd “fair wage” pay scale drove them into bankruptcy and forced them to close their doors.

https://constitution.com/liberal-pizza-parlor-goes-belly-social-justice-fair-wage-bankruptcy/

[Snarknado]

We've come a long way - it used to be unions that bled their employers dry. Now the owner saves them the trouble. A few more like this and maybe employees will have to start forming unions so they can bargain their irresponsible employers down to a sustainable pay scale?

[Bigun]

We've come a long way - it used to be unions that bled their employers dry. Now the owner saves them the trouble. A few more like this and maybe employees will have to start forming unions so they can bargain their irresponsible employers down to a sustainable pay scale?

People who go into business without an understanding of basic economics are doomed to failure!

[kidd]

Because this is Boston, it is highly likely that the liberal owners hired liberal workers (and paid them well above market value).

When the liberal owners had financial trouble, do you think the liberal workers made concessions to keep this "wonderful" liberal concept afloat?
Answer: they didn't

[Bigun]

Because this is Boston, it is highly likely that the liberal owners hired liberal workers (and paid them well above market value).

When the liberal owners had financial trouble, do you think the liberal workers made concessions to keep this "wonderful" liberal concept afloat?
Answer: they didn't

And the pizza shop down the street which continued to pay prevailing wages is still in business competing with all the others who did the same.

[MOD4]

Topics Merged.

[Cyber Liberty]

Because this is Boston, it is highly likely that the liberal owners hired liberal workers (and paid them well above market value).

When the liberal owners had financial trouble, do you think the liberal workers made concessions to keep this "wonderful" liberal concept afloat?
Answer: they didn't

I don't think it was the pay, although I'm sure it's a factor.  Up thread a ways I posted the menu, and I can't believe they'd serve that slop and expect to make money.  Scroll up and click, you'll see.

[Bigun]

I don't think it was the pay, although I'm sure it's a factor.  Up thread a ways I posted the menu, and I can't believe they'd serve that slop and expect to make money.  Scroll up and click, you'll see.

I did! Further proof of the idiocy of the owners!

[IsailedawayfromFR]

The Dudley Dough Manifesto

Dudley Dough celebrates the labor of exceptional workers who nourish our community with healthful food – empowering them with just pay, dignity, and a voice in their workplace.
We pursue social wealth, not greed, as the driving force of commerce.
We believe that individual and societal well-being are bound together.

http://haleyhouse.org/what-we-do/dudley-dough/our-philosophy/

Guess firing all of its employees didn't quite meet the manifesto's creed, did it?

One could insert 'Democrat Manifesto' and it portends the end of this country as well.

[LMAO]

The Dudley Dough Manifesto

Dudley Dough celebrates the labor of exceptional workers who nourish our community with healthful food – empowering them with just pay, dignity, and a voice in their workplace.
We pursue social wealth, not greed, as the driving force of commerce.
We believe that individual and societal well-being are bound together.

http://haleyhouse.org/what-we-do/dudley-dough/our-philosophy/

Guess firing all of its employees didn't quite meet the manifesto's creed, did it?

One could insert 'Democrat Manifesto' and it portends the end of this country as well.

Progressives tend to believe in the what could be verses what is. In the case of this restaurant, besides the workers who lost their jobs no harm is done.

The real damage is when they get into office and inflict their fantasy on the nation at large