SF small businesses find clever ways to stay afloat after wage hike
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco's higher minimum wage will start going up again in May as part of a voter approved initiative to raise the rate to $15 an hour by 2018.
Two small businesses say they're struggling to pay the higher wage, but are finding creative ways to stay afloat.
Big movies based on comics like "The Avengers" and Marvel's "Ant Man" and TV shows like "The Walking Dead based on the graphic novel by Berkeley's Dark Horse Comics should mean big business for specialty stores like Comix Experience, but the shop owner says San Francisco's coming hike in the minimum wage is forcing new strategies to stay open.
"I have a budget and I knew I had to meet that budget, but to suddenly have that increase by $80,000 out of the blue is kind of difficult," said Brian Hibbs, Comix Experience owner.
Unlike other small businesses that can hike prices to make up the extra revenue, Brian Hibbs says he can't do that.
"Yeah, well, we can't because It literally has the price printed on the cover," Hibbs said.
To stay afloat, Hibbs is launching a new graphic novel club with annual membership fees of about $240 a year. Club members will get special perks.
Another San Francisco book store recently avoided shutting down because of the minimum wage hike by launching an annual sponsorship program.
"Initially we asked for 300 sponsors to give us $100 each for the year 2015, and if we were able to do that we would be able to stay open till at least March of 2016," said Jude Feldman, general manager of Borderlands Books manager.
For Borderlands Books the sponsorship drive has been a success. They surpassed their goal of 300 sponsors.
More than 700 people have signed up.
Customers of Borderlands Books and Comix Experience said they love the local stores, but they also support an increase in the minimum wage.
"The $15 minimum wage is speaking to what's the basic cost of living in the region," said Richard Threadgill, a Comix Experience customer.
So far, devoted customers seem willing to pony up extra money to support certain local shops.
For Hibbard, it's a challenge he's willing to meet.
