Hollywood A-lister Kevin Hart stunned customers in California by closing all of his vegan fast-food chain, Hart House, overnight, just four months after the state mandated a significant increase in the minimum wage for fast-food workers.
The vegan restaurant chain, which was founded two years ago in Southern California, closed all four of its locations on Tuesday, according to Eater.
“The response to the product has been incredible and we're grateful to our dedicated team, customers and community partners for their unwavering support of Heart House as they help us deliver the change we all so desperately need,” Heart House CEO Andy Hooper said in a statement.
Hart opened the chain in 2022 after adopting a vegan diet. The restaurants offer their own vegan products at affordable prices.
Hooper opened the chain's most ambitious store yet last year in a prime Los Angeles location.
“We’re opening at the corner of Sunset and Highland, across from Hollywood High School, next to Chick-fil-A and about 100 yards from In-N-Out. [and inside] “This former McDonald's building symbolizes our ambition for the future of quick-service restaurants,” the CEO said last May.
Hart House's president did not provide further details about the sudden closure but thanked customers in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
“Thank you — to our team, guests and community who helped make the change we all so desperately needed,” Hooper wrote.
“We bid farewell to Hartfeldt as we begin a new chapter.”
But the closures come four months after the Democratic-led state legislature passed a mandate to pay fast-food workers $20 an hour, but not to other employees. The new wage went into effect on April 2.
Since then, the fast-food industry has struggled to cope with huge increases in costs, with some restaurants scrambling to install electronic kiosks and others forced to cut staff or hours.
Some studies have reported that fast food prices have increased by 7 percent since the new wage system came into effect.
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