West Hartford ShopRite to close in November, citing 'business climate' and new minimum wage

[George II]

The ShopRite grocery store in West Hartford will close in late November after store officials say a “challenging business climate,” including the state’s new higher minimum wage, made the store unprofitable.

The Kane Street location will close Nov. 26, just two days before Thanksgiving, according to a statement Sunday from Wakefern Food Corp., the New Jersey grocery cooperative that licenses ShopRite stores across the region.

“After nearly a decade of serving the West Hartford community, ShopRite has decided it will close its doors,” the statement read. “In spite of our competitive pricing, large assortment of foods and products, and excellent service provided by our dedicated associates, we have struggled to make the store profitable. A challenging business climate impacted by rising costs, regulations and the new minimum wage increase led to the difficult decision to close our doors on Nov. 26.”

Connecticut’s minimum wage is set to increase to $11 per hour on Tuesday, up from $10.10 per hour, after lawmakers voted this spring on a plan to bring the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2023.

https://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-br-shoprite-west-hartford-closing-20190929-fkbc6p5al5hazeiyd4xau3bami-story.html

[OliverQ]

1. Good, if you can't afford to pay people $11 an hour in

one of the most expensive states in the country, you shouldn't be in business.

[George II]

4. Good? Tell that to the people who will be losing their jobs in Nov - I'm sure they'll appreciate it

[OliverQ]

6. That's the fault of a greedy company.

Articles like this sound like they're blaming Dems for passing regulations and minimum wage increases, instead of companies caring more about profit than their employees.

[George II]

7. No, they're not blaming Democrats.

[kcr]

15. Who do you think passed the minimum wage law?

[Mariana]

30. Are you opposed to increasing the minimum wage? nt.

[melman]

32. Certainly seems that way

[Turin_C3PO]

36. So the company

should be allowed to pay slave wages? $11/hr in Connecticut is hardly unreasonable and, in reality, should be more.

[kwolf68]

2. What "regulations"?

I wonder. This sounded like a right wing political ad.

[marble falls]

3. It sure does. They can't cover a 3% increase in costs from a 10% increase in wages? Who's ...

their CEO - Papa John Schnatter?

[RandiFan1290]

11. That's exactly what it is

and that is why it was posted.

[Cha]

12. Tell us more, Randi.. you know why this

was posted.. really? What are you trying to say here?

[George II]

17. Ah, you know more about why this was posted than the person who posted it?

[melman]

40. So why was it posted?

[George II]

42. Because it was.

[melman]

26. +1

[TheBlackAdder]

5. When Walmart and Stop&Shop pay $11 an hour and your store can't somebody's screwing it up.

[maxrandb]

14. I was a stock Clerk at a grocery store in Ohio back in 1980

I made $12.60 an hour, time-and-a-half for overtime, double-time for Sunday's and Holidays... and got 8 hours of pay for my birthday.

We also had a decent benefits and pension program.

Of course, that was before a bunch of fucksticks convinced a majority of those that bother to vote that people like me were the whole problem and that millionaires were "struggling".

BTW-that pay in 1980 would equate to $96K a year in today's money... without counting overtime.

Gee, I wonder what the fuck happened

[VMA131Marine]

33. It's more like $81.6k ...

but, point taken!

[maxrandb]

39. I bet the stock clerks at Walmart aren't making

$81.6K a year.

[smirkymonkey]

8. Fuck them!

It's West Hartford, CT. Surely they can raise their prices enough to make up for the rise in wages. They are just greedy bastards. $.90! They are closing their doors over a $.90 increase in wages? This community can absorb the
wage increase. It's the greedy company that is the problem. Boycott Wakefern!

[DeminPennswoods]

9. The local Walmart here is starting new hires

at $12/hr with benefits. And I live in an economically depressed area.

[happybird]

38. The catch is the number of hours

Most likely no one will be hired to work full time, which makes them ineligible for benefits. That’s how most of the big box and corporate chains do it: everyone is a part time employee except the managers. It’s messed up, very deceptive, and a big part of why these places are always hiring.

[obamanut2012]

10. My parents live in a rural, poorer area, and Wal-Mart is hiring at $11.50

Still too low, but if poor, rural areas can pay this, an area like West Hartford, CT., can. This is BS.

[Takket]

13. If they can't absorb a 90 cent increase then they ran a bad business

The fact they would close two days before thanksgiving instead of staying open and taking in all the holiday sales shows they don’t really know what they are doing. Hopefully they sell the location to someone who can run a business.

[grantcart]

16. It is more likely that the low minimum wage didn't allow enough discretionary spending

To generate enough sales.

Ford famously increased wages so his workers could afford the product they made.

[guillaumeb]

28. Exactly.

Demand drives supply, and low wages cannot increase demand.

[drbtg1]

18. About this particular Shop Rite....

- While this Shop Rite is technically in West Hartford, it is barely in the city limits. It is very close to Hartford and right around the corner from a Super Stop & Shop, which tends to be of generally better quality, thus increasing competition.

- This Shop Rite is located in a strip mall that does not cater to people with tons of money. While Wakefern licenses the Shop Rite brand to owners, this particular Shop Rite is owned by Joseph Family Markets, which also owns the Canton Shop Rite. The Canton Shop Rite is located in The Shops At Farmington Valley, which absolutely caters to people with lots of money. Of course, there's no talk about closing the Canton location, despite the same regulations, minimum wage, etc.

- West Hartford has not one, but two Whole Foods Markets, but of course, those are located in places in West Hartford closer to people with money.

- There's a brand new Shop Rite in Cromwell owned by Garafalo Markets that is actually quite nice. This is one place I was actually able to find frozen artichoke hearts. Maybe Wakefern needs to increase its standards of its licensees. Just sayin'

[NewJeffCT]

19. One of those Wal-Mart Express stores went out of business in West Hartford a few years back as well

Forgot the exact name for them, but they sell mostly food and pharmaceutical items, but that went out of business in West Hartford as well.

Whole Foods is closing one of their stores in WH and moving over the mountain to Avon as well.

But, WH still has Big Y, Trader Joe's, Aldi, another Whole Foods, a Stop & Shop, plus two more Stop & Shops right on the border (one in Newington and one in Hartford), not to mention the largest Asian grocery store in southern New England outside of Boston. And, at least 2 independent grocery stores (Crown and Highland Park)

[drbtg1]

22. Yeah, I heard about them closing the Bishop's Corner Whole Foods a while ago.

They sure are taking their sweet time in closing it. Maybe they're waiting for the Avon location to be up and running. In the meantime, parking in Bishop's Corner is much easier. But I miss Cheese & Stuff (long before Whole Foods and Wild Oats) .

I think Hall's Market in WeHa has a following too.

I know about the Highland Park Market in Farmington and Manchester, but where is it in WeHa? Is it a separate business like the Coventry location?

[George II]

21. We're not far from the new Shop Rite in Cromwell. We're amazed they built that....

....since it's right across the road from a Stop and Shop that's been there for more than 30 years. They spent a lot on this new store, they actually tore down the previous building (a K-Mart that's been hanging on for life for probably 15 years and an X-pect, whose parent company went under a couple of years ago)

[drbtg1]

23. Well, at least they kept Chicago Sam's! :)

(For everyone else reading this, Chicago Sam's is a big sports bar.)

[George II]

25. I've only been in there once since it became Chicago Sam's. I was there too many times...

...to count when it was Rookie's and even before that when it was Ashley's, before they bought out the Hallmark store next to it and became Rookie's.

[Hortensis]

20. Guessed this. They grabbed chance to blame min wage increase.

According to one source, ShopRite is valued at $1.8 billion, and according to another its major shareholder, "South African Billionaire Christo Wiese, Mr. Shoprite" has over $6 billion.

[durablend]

35. They're not the same company.

The US-Shoprite is owned by Wakefern in New Jersey. Most of the stores are family-owned co-ops that operate under the Shoprite brand.

[Hortensis]

41. Oh, whoops. Thanks for the correction.

[TidalWave46]

24. Really bad for for a business to give themselves outright praise....

While blaming everyone and everything else as they shut their doors because of their own failed business model.

[guillaumeb]

27. So these business geniuses cannnot pay their dedicated associates a living wage?

If a business model requires underpaying its workers, or massive taxpayer subsidies, that business model deserves to fail.

[lame54]

29. Won't pay the new minimum wage? - good riddance...

Business has gotten a free ride for decades(half a century)

This is looooooong over due

Adapt or get out

[no_hypocrisy]

31. I started 2 weeks ago at $11 at Stew Leonards as a cashier in NJ.

SL started in Conn. If his food stores can afford to pay us $11 and make a profit, SR should review it's business model.

[TeamPooka]

45. I'm from Norwalk CT originally. The first of home of Stew Leonard's and they are awesome.

A model of how retail can work for everyone.

[Tiggeroshii]

34. Thats just another way of saying people dont want what their selling

And they have to shut down because of it. But sure, blame having to pay your employees fairly.

[customerserviceguy]

37. Every Shop-Rite I've ever been in

has been a crowded confused mess that it is difficult to find things in, and get around the cardboard displays that manufacturers pay them to clog up aisles.

When I lived in the suburban NYC area, I shopped almost exclusively at Stop-N-Shop. Friendlier employees, too. One of my fellow customer service workers (before I retired) told me about how much hassle it was for her husband to work at the Shop-Rite chain.

Maybe that corporate culture is doing them in.

[krispos42]

43. The ones by me are the opposite

The Stop&Shops never have enough cashiers, so going there is always a 5-10 minute penalty for waiting in line. Doesn't matter the time of day or day of the week, you're going to stand there and ponder why, if the company wants you money, they're making you wait to give it to them. The Shop-Rite always has plenty of cashiers and the waits are very short. Often I get into line just as the person in front of my is paying up and getting ready to leave.

Once I was there the eve of a blizzard, and of course the place was crammed full of the "bread and milk" crowd. EVERY single one of the registers was manned, and every single register had a bagger as well. In fact, the store manager was one of those baggers, shoving groceries into bags as fast as he could. Despite the huge lines, the wait was only a few minutes before I was out the door with my bread and milk.

Your mileage may vary. My local Shop-Rite is owned by a local family chain.

[krispos42]

44. So they're not waiting to feel the effects of the new minimum wage

It's putting about 9% more income in the wallets of the minimum-wage workers... who buy groceries at Shop-Rite.

I guess the owners don't feel that they will profit from their customers having more disposable income.