YAKIMA, WA – For Norm’s of Yakima, staff shortages are anything but normal. They are now only open Tuesday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 4 to 10 p.m. on Saturdays.
From 20 employees to now ten, owner Steve Habecker has his work cut out for him, literally. He is having to juggle finances, keep the food supply coming, and pick up work shifts.
“It is what it is,” said Habecker, “you kinda just have to keep doing what you’re doing and hope for the best, and we’re still hoping for the best.”
Habecker said hiring more people isn’t going to solve all of his problems.
“You have to weigh your options,” said Habecker, “to hire them and to even keep them, most occasions you’re having to pay them more than what they were making before.”
Not only are they worried about having enough staff to stay open, but the amount of food they serve is also in question.
“You can’t give someone one size of product one day and they come in two weeks later and it’s half the size for the same price,” said Habecker.
Habecker said food quantity and cost are a hard balance to find.
“If I were to raise the price of my burger at the same rate that everything went up for the pandemic, you’d be paying 20 to 25 dollars for a basic burger right now,” said Habecker.
But he said he just can’t do that to his customers.
Habecker said he’s having to eat a lot of the cost himself to stay open, but he doesn’t know how much longer he can take.
To help them stay open, Habecker said he needs customers coming through his doors.
