Why Many Newly Reopened Restaurants Are Closing Down Again
Too soon? Coronavirus hasn’t disappeared with the arrival of warmer weather, but many restaurants across the United States have started to reopen. However, many business owners have found that even if they follow the recommended reopening guidelines, those might not be enough to keep employees and customers safe. Soon after opening up for indoor and outdoor table service, many restaurateurs have reported that employees are testing positive for COVID-19. Public health experts had warned that reopening too soon could result in such a spike. Now owners (many of whom were eager to get back to business), have decided to shutter once again.
Best Practices For Welcoming Your Staff Back to Your Restaurants
Equipment, training, schedule flexibility are keys. With states beginning to reopen after months of lockdown, the restaurant industry is reemerging with rules that are far different than those they had pre-pandemic. The coronavirus turned the hospitality world on its head, and with cases still on the rise in many areas, it’s more important than ever to show both employees and customers that your establishment is not going back to business as usual. Restaurant staffers speaking out in online forums have expressed concerns over returning to work and how it might expose them. What can you do to make employees’ return to work and transition into the new workflow as comfortable as possible?
The People Helping Restaurants the Most During COVID-19
Chefs created systems of solidarity and support that are destined to outlast the pandemic. As COVID-19 decimated businesses from coast to coast, chefs asked the same question: “Now what?” In Nashville, finding the answer started with a group text from Butcher & Bee chef Bryan Lee Weaver that grew to include chefs from all over the city, including 2018 F&W Best New Chef Julia Sullivan, who formed a coalition: Tennessee Action for Hospitality. “We launched a website to share our immediate needs so people could send a letter asking Tennessee congressmen, senators, and the governor to listen,” Sullivan says. “Within the week, we had over 4,000 people reach out.”
It Could Take Restaurants 6 Months to Make Post-Coronavirus Profit
New research says. The restaurant industry is projected to lose $240 billion in sales because of coronavirus. It’s now reported that, so far, state-mandated dining room closures have resulted in a loss of $120 billion — $30 billion in March, $50 billion in April and $40 billion in May. According to new research from the National Restaurant Association, more than 8 million restaurant employees were unemployed at the height of the pandemic, 76% of restaurants that remained open in some capacity — to offer takeout, for example — have rehired some staff, and 25% of restaurants that are temporarily closed have rehired some staff and plan to reopen.
Retail Sales Post Their Biggest Monthly Jump Ever
Consumers freed from the coronavirus-induced lockdowns began shopping again. The 17.7% headline gain including food sales easily topped the previous record from October 2001 and beat the 8% estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. Retail sales alone powered 16.8% higher from a month ago, more than double the estimate of 8% from Dow Jones and reversing a 16.4% plunge from a month ago. Clothing and accessories stores reported the biggest percentage gain at 188% while sporting goods, hobby, musical instruments and book stores rose 88.2%.
Did You Know?
11 ways you can help small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. Small business owners have faced calamitous times due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many have seen their stores and restaurants temporarily shut down, and even though they can now reopen, it’s with limited capacity as well as questionable demand. As consumers and members of the community there are ways we can help. Shopping and eating local helps, but there’s more you can do.
Employee Tip
Stimulus check 2: Could you get another $1,200 payment or a $4,000 travel credit? Sending a second round of stimulus checks to every eligible American is one way to help steady a shaky US economy. But an extra $1,200 isn’t the only approach under possible consideration, and that could have an effect on whether you get another stimulus check or not. President Donald Trump pitched the idea of a travel tax credit during a White House round-table discussion in May for getting through the coronavirus pandemic. “Create an Explore America tax credit that Americans can use for domestic travel, including visits to restaurants,” the president proposed during the meeting. “That’s a big deal.” Expanding on the president’s idea, the US Travel Association suggested a $4,000 temporary travel tax credit (PDF) that could cover anything from meals and lodging to gasoline while traveling in the US. It isn’t clear if the travel credit would supplement or replace another direct payment to you, if it were to become part of the rescue package.
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.
Get your copy of the Restaurant Reopening Playbook. 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.” No one person will have all the answers, as there are so many things to consider. Safety is an important concern, but just as important is the entertainment aspect of the business. Many customers are not going to want to be eating out without the social benefits that restaurants and bars provide. Furthermore, many will not be interested in wearing masks or having their temperatures taken. Restaurants are not going to be profitable having to operate with a dining room that is one third empty. We need to work together not merely for survival, but for success!
