Karim Kurdi, 33, an owner of the Mar Vista Ranch Market greets customers at his store. (Olga Grigoryants/Neon Tommy)

“I would love to pay my employees more, but it’s tough,” Kurdi says. “Right now, I’m breaking even. I’m not really making any money.”   

Kurdi, who employs four full-time workers, says a seemingly small $2 increase above the current $9 an hour in his employees’ wages will hike his annual payroll spending 18 percent, from $74,880 to $91,520. That, he warns, might “kill his business.”

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Kurdi, a son of Mexican and Lebanese immigrants, opened his Mar Vista Ranch Market in 2002 in a one-story building on a busy corner of Centinela Avenue and Venice Boulevard. 

For the first six years, he enjoyed a stable income and managed to keep his prices low while filling the aisles with Persian-style dairy products, Mexican-produced Coke and local poultry and meat, which attracted residents, most of whom live within walking distance. 

But three years ago, national retailers like Target, CVS and Walgreens started offering fresh yogurt, strawberries and frozen lunches, expanding their business from selling apparel to offering groceries and produce.

The competition and severe drought, which has led to a run up on prices on meat and produce, began to drag the business down further, Kurdi said.

In addition, his customers became tighter with their money. Although the number of customers who shopped at the market has remained stable since 2008, the average spending has declined.  

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As a result, Kurdi says, he can’t offset increased labor costs with higher prices; his customers won’t tolerate it. 

“We can’t raise prices too much because people will start complaining more, and we’re going to lose customers,” Kurdi says. 

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Kurdi stands behind a register with a sticker that reads: “Credit or debit cards for $10 charge .50c.” 

The shelves in the store are filled with tea, yogurt, tamales, and produce with oversized tags attached to them advertising discounts. A woman stopped by a register to pay for a watermelon and two mangos. 

“People used to buy products for several days and now they only buy for today, just one onion and one cilantro,” Kurdisaid. 

Slow sales paired with increased labor costs threaten the store’s tiny income, and Kurdi says he is ready to make a tough decision: laying off one of his workers or cutting down his employees’ hours. 

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“Of course I feel bad,” Kurdi says when he talks about his employees. “I know they have the same amount of bills to pay. They have families and they do want to work. But I got to pay my bills, too. It has to make sense for me in order to keep this business.”

Still, despite all the challenges, Kurdi remains optimistic. He says the increase won’t happen overnight. He still has some time to plan his budget and hopefully keep all his workers. 

“I think the government needs to wait until the economy gets getter,” he said. “And then raise the minimum wage again.”

This story is part of a minimum wage series produced by USC Annenberg students.

Contact Contributor Olga Grigoryants here.