NJ Restaurant Reopening Playbook
To be released, Monday, June 8th. Bielat Santore & Company has formed a “task force” comprised of multi-unit restaurant operators to collaborate on ideas, procedures, strategies and goals as they relate to the preparation for and the reopening of restaurants and other hospitality-based businesses in New Jersey. The Mission of this “task force” is to provide a collaboration of knowledge, expertise and innovative thinking from some of the industry’s most reputable restaurant operators, that will yield a strategy for all independent restauranteurs to follow, assisting all in the transition back to “business as normal.” The firm will release a “Restaurant Reopening Playbook,” a guide for preparation and execution this coming Monday.
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NJ Issuing Guidance for Restaurants and Bars
New Jersey restaurants and bars planning to reopen on June 15. New Jersey restaurants and bars planning to reopen on June 15 will have to ensure that outdoor table seating is at least six feet apart for individual groups, and they additionally will need to comply with an array of safety and sanitation protocols that will be released later today by the Department of Health, Gov. Phil Murphy said at today’s COVID-19 press conference. The overall executive order Murphy said he will sign is part of the state’s transition to Stage 2 of its reopening. The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control will issue a related ruling allowing liquor license holders to apply for a limited-duration special permit for expanding areas where they can serve patrons. Murphy said municipal approval will be required for the special permits, and establishments must comply with local ordinances.
NJ Towns Closing Down Some Streets
To make outdoor dining easier. With outdoor dining and non-essential retail starting back up in two weeks, towns across New Jersey are closing down streets to create space for outdoor dining and shoppers who have been kept away by coronavirus restrictions. Towns with once-bustling downtowns like Hoboken, Ridgewood, and Red Bank have been proposing and quickly approving resolutions and pilot programs to turn certain roads into pedestrian malls where shoppers can walk from store to store and dine in the middle of the street. The plans come as Gov. Phil Murphy announced that outdoor dining and non-essential retail will return June 15, part of the state’s Stage 2 in slowly reopening a Garden State stunted by the coronavirus.
What the House’s Passage of the Flex Act Means
For PPP borrowers. On May 28, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives near-unanimously passed the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, H.R. 7010 (the “PPP Flex Act” or the “Flex Act”). The bipartisan PPP Flex Act now goes to the Senate as national leaders look to provide additional, more expansive support to small businesses impacted by COVID-19. This bill follows multiple rounds of guidance released by the Small Business Administration (the “SBA”), in consultation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, since the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), which established the Paycheck Protection Program (the “PPP”). The PPP Flex Act—which is still subject to approval by the Senate and the President—provides several amendments to the PPP.
Unrest Forces Some Restaurants to Put Their Comebacks on Hold
Widespread protests and violence have forced some operators to delay long-awaited. For restaurants in urban centers around the country, the protests and violence of the past few days has delayed the reopening plans many operators had for this week. Numerous chain and independent restaurants, including many in central cities that had been in danger of going out of business, have been damaged, opted to delay openings, or both. Violence and protests have come as many cities and states began steps to reopen dining rooms, or at least their patios. Government officials, however, have yet to take the step of delayed reopenings—Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said her city’s restaurants will be allowed to reopen. Individually, however, some operators are taking steps to delay openings, either to repair damage or out of respect for the cause that sparked protests in recent days. Some operators have opted to hold off on reopening until they feel it’s safe.
Butcher in Upstate New York Installs 24-Hour Meat Vending Machine
Says customer response is ‘unbelievable’. The owner of a butcher shop and restaurant in Rochester, N.Y., told Fox News that his meaty new vending machine is a hit with customers, who can now purchase their steaks and chops with minimal person-to-person contact in a sectioned-off vestibule at the front of his shop. “The response has been unbelievable,” said Kevin McCann, the owner, and head butcher at McCann’s Local Meats. “On Saturday, I was cutting and restocking the machine four or five times.” McCann planned to debut the concept at McCann’s Local Meats on Monday, June 1. But after stocking the refrigerated vending machine on Friday, as part of a test run, McCann said it only took a few hours for folks to find out about it.
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Did You Know?
Your kitchen can be as well stocked as restaurants now. While the pandemic has changed myriad aspects of American life in ways we are still starting to see (will anyone ever go back to a desk job?), none may be as pervasive as the new ways we shop and eat. As grocery shopping became a minor tactical operation, home cooks began to think like the chef of a small restaurant that is booked every night. To stock refrigerators and cabinets with supplies for menus planned a week or more in advance, they have turned to many of the same businesses that restaurants used — from major regional wholesalers to family farms raising asparagus and a herd of goats. Many of these suppliers slapped together their retail operations overnight in March in a desperate attempt to survive the month. Now, as summer nears, these new trade routes may be here to stay.
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Employee Tip
Didn’t get your stimulus payment? Here’s how to find it. I never fully appreciated the skill of writing instructions until I tried to help people figure out what has become of their stimulus payments. The IRS — stymied by the lack of staff and old technology — delivered more than 140 million economic impact payments (EIP) worth $239 billion by mid-May under the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (Cares) Act. The IRS continues to issue payments based on recently filed tax returns and to some individuals with foreign addresses who are awaiting payment, according to IRS spokesman Eric Smith. If you haven’t filed a federal tax return for 2018 or 2019 or your income is too low, you won’t receive an automatic stimulus payment unless you use the non-filer tool at irs.gov to provide simple information to the IRS
Bielat Santore & Company – Restaurant Industry Daily Alerts
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Thank you and remember all of the “Restaurant Industry Alerts” and “Thursday Restaurant Rap” interviews can be found at www.123bsc.com/news/. We intend to continue to keep you informed as we all look for an end to this crisis.
How to market your restaurant for sale during the coronavirus pandemic. Of course, it will be challenging to market and sell businesses that have temporarily been shuttered during the pandemic, because valuations are based on historical financial data. However, whether you choose to reopen your business or not, owners can still position them for sale. So, what should you do if you want to sell in the next 6 – 12 months? Contact a good business broker that specializes in the sale of hospitality real estate and businesses. Bielat Santore & Company, Allenhurst, NJ has been brokering such sales for over 40 years and will be able to help you come up with flexible deal structures and capital sources to make a sale possible; call for a free consultation – 732.531.4200.
