From what I have heard, the work being done at the Wendy's location on East Walnut is remodeling the restaurant for a reopening later this year. Hopefully they will be able to staff the location as they did have some problems there under the past management.
Correct. Its also a new franchise owner as the previous owner didn't want to commit the capital needed to renovate as the building is relatively new. Most of the work being done there is to make the restaurant operable with a staff of 4. It used to take 6 to properly run the restaurant. Most of the work is all new equipment that is highly automated (and more energy efficient), smaller inside dining area and larger kitchen to handle delivery, etc.
ReplyDeleteBy my count that is now 8 "fast food" restaurants in Carbondale that have been renovated and built from the ground up in the last 3 years specifically to increase automation. My guess is this amounts to roughly $6 million in capital spends. (We know BK was $1.4M, PH was about $1M and estimating the others at $400K.)
Westside Burger King, Sonic, Arby's, Taco Bell, Papa Johns, East side McDonalds, Pizza Hut and now Wendy's.
Additionally the reason the Carterville, Marion, etc DQ's have closed is the number of staff needed to run the restaurant is too high given labor costs. Yes, the owners technically retired but thats why they retired...their old business model no longer worked.
Anyone who is pro minimum wage should see this as a clear example of what happens when the minimum wage is randomly pushed higher. It does not create better jobs...it simply eliminates jobs. (Though Carbondale does greatly benefit from the increased sales tax that highly efficient restaurants produce. )