Nick Price, owner of Three Pines Coffee in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, has decided to eliminate tipping at his cafe and instead enhance the price of all items on the menu by about $1
The owner of the coffee shop has eliminated tips and raised the pay of his employees from $8 an hour to $18. The Salt Lake City coffee shop is moving away from the typical American business model, in which tips can be a significant part of an employee’s pay.
Three Pines Coffee owner Nick Price believes eliminating tips will lend a hand customers and allow him to significantly enhance employee wages. “Since when do we tip for everything? I definitely feel tip fatigue,” Price mused.
He believes the tip system is unfair to customers, especially when the store in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, is quieter. He noted that tips were good in the summer but dropped in the winter, which he felt was unfair to employees because they couldn’t count on making the same amount of money year-round.
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“Because we have a lot of work in the summer, the tips are pretty good. In the winter, it’s a little slower and the tips are pretty bad,” Price explained. “I didn’t feel like my employees should be making less money during those slower months.”
The owner of the coffee shop got rid of tips and simply raised the price of everything on the menu by about $1. Now customers don’t have to tip for coffee, and workers earn much more, from $8 to $18 an hour.
Everett, who works at Three Pines, says not having to worry about tips is great. He’s been there for two years and always felt weird about asking for tips. Now, he’s content knowing exactly how much he’ll make. “I know how much I’m making. It’s really comforting because tips can be so volatile,” he shared.
Three Pines Coffee has been doing it for about a month, and people are really enjoying it. Everett hopes other places will try it, too. “I can’t wait to see if other businesses in Salt Lake do it, because I think people are tired of tipping, and that’s the future of our industry,” he said.
