Homebase Challenges Houston Diners to EatTheCost

Houston on its Heels: Spends Most, Has Most to Makeup

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Oct 14, 2016, 10:15 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Real estate costs, chains and online businesses already challenge local businesses; now December's overtime regulation and minimum wage reform are driving up labor costs. Homebase, a trusted provider of essential tools for small businesses, today launches EatTheCost, a pledge to support local favorites by spending just $0.50 more per day dining out.

"As consumers, we're spending less on food than any other time in history, and restaurants need us to help rebalance," said John Waldmann, CEO and founder of Homebase. "Pledging to EatTheCost of an overdue raise will help these businesses stay around through change, without squeezing already small margins."

The Pledge
Signing up at www.eatthecost.com tells businesses you're on-board to help cover rising costs by spending more. Maybe share pictures and updates to let businesses know you understand prices need to rise to pay teams fairly. The businesses need to hear, because only 59 percent of businesses polled are considering raising prices.

What IS the Cost? For Houston? The HIGHEST
Americans spending $15 more/month eating out would cover national wage increase to $12/hr., benefitting 80 percent of workers; a dollar a day ($33/month) gets to $15/hr. and 95 percent.

For Houston, the price hike is much steeper: nearly double the national average to cover a hike to $12/hr.

This chart shows current cost of dining per person by city, and what they'd each need to pay to help coverage a minimum wage hike to $12 or $15/hr.:

City	Current Monthly Dining Spend	$12/hr.	$15/hr.
Houston	$334.50	+$28.60	+$55.20
Dallas/Ft. Worth	$333.33	+$28.60	+$55.20
Atlanta	$203.70	+$18.60	+$35.20
Philadelphia	$226.80	+$18.20	+$35.90
Chicago	$278.30	+$15.70	+$35.80
Los Angeles	$268.40	+$11.40	+$29.40
New York	$240.70	+$9.70	+$33.70
Seattle	$302.30	+$9.30	+$27.10
San Francisco	$374.80	+$6.30	+$24.10
Washington DC	$310.50	+$2.50	+$17.00
National Average	$272.80	+$14.80	+$33.60

"These businesses, servers, bartenders and others define our neighborhoods and deserve to know we're here for them," continued Waldmann. "Eating out is already a treat for many, and the impact of a price increase shouldn't be understated. But change doesn't happen overnight, so everyone has time to adjust. Dining costs are progressive; those with more will spend more."

Homebase is uniquely positioned to partner with both its businesses and their teams to navigate these changes. Free scheduling, time sheets, compliance and team communication tools transform painful tasks to simple Web and mobile moments, saving customers 5 hours/week. Based in San Francisco and Houston, Homebase's former baristas, small business owners, waiters – even national chain restaurant HR head – have built products at Intuit, OpenTable, and Yelp. The Homebase board has helped great companies scale, including Instagram and Square.

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SOURCE Homebase