The final small businessperson in the video, Rick Karp, owns Cole Hardware. Five of his six stores are in San Francisco, while the sixth is in Oakland:
RICK KARP: We’ve always tried to pay our staff above minimum wage, and hope to continue doing that as we go through the future. But I think it’s, it’s so difficult, especially in San Francisco, to live off anything less.
But can we raise prices? The answer is no. Amazon is all over San Francisco with same-day delivery, and they don’t have the wage base that we have to. It’s an anti-competitive environment, and I think that if it happens statewide, then it will level the playing field and help independent retailers.
So as many people are legitimately afraid of $15 an hour — I am too, frankly, because our bottom line is real thin — but I hope that we’ll be able to innovate to keep our business thriving.
