Rooted in Values: Why Our Prices Are Changing
When Calamity’s first opened, I was pretty adamant that the price tag should be exactly what you pay. If a drink was $5, you paid $5 at the register—no tax added, no surprises. That philosophy was great with a small menu and no outside vendors. But, as you know, things have changed.
Our menu has grown a lot, and it’ll continue to evolve. We also host vendors, which (while wonderful) complicates things—it's impossible to build tax into their pricing the way once did with drinks. You’ll note the word “once.” I thought I was doing a decent job keeping track of our costs; taking this month off gave me the space to really dig into the numbers. And here’s what I found:
The good news:
When we switched some of our distributors, our cost of goods actually went down a bit.
The drinks that went up in COST (not including tax) will accumulate rewards quicker!
The not-so-good news: I discovered that I wasn’t calculating taxes correctly. At all. To stay transparent and sustainable, I’ve decided that moving forward, tax will be added at the register for all purchases—including drinks.
There’s another hard truth I have to share: we’ve actually been losing money on a few of our drinks. As someone who’s spent years living paycheck to paycheck, I know the value of a dollar. When I saw some drinks creeping over $6, I intentionally rounded down to $5.95—especially the ones made with alternative milk. After all, it’s not your fault you’re lactose intolerant! I accepted that some drinks had to go over the $6 threshold I was comfortable with, but did my best to keep most drinks well below their true cost.
The reality is that non-dairy milk costs nearly a third more than cow’s milk, and I have a responsibility not just to you, but to my staff. People are relying on me to pay them—and to do it on time. That means I can’t keep underpricing items out of guilt or sentiment.
Still, Calamity’s has always lived on a model of transparency. It’s always frustrated me when businesses raise prices but never lower them. That’s not how we do things here. While most drinks will see price increases, a handful are actually going down—even after accounting for tax.
This wasn’t an easy decision. But I believe in being honest and running this business with integrity. I hope you’ll understand these changes and continue to support Calamity’s as we grow.
Thank you for understanding—truly.