At least 100,000 restaurants will close this year because of the pandemic, the National Restaurant Association recently predicted. Perhaps more surprising, the association also found that 60% of operators said their total operational costs, as a percent of sales, are higher than they were before COVID-19. Further, on average, restaurant operators say their staffing is just 71% of typical levels.
Many restaurants did experience a shift from the first days of the Coronavirus, when whole cities were shut down, to now, when operators can provide take-out businesses and outdoor dining. According to an earlier study by the NRA, 67% of the 3,500 operators surveyed have added curbside takeout.
And demand for such offerings has risen. Before the lockdowns, just under 60% of adults ordered their dinner via takeout or delivery from a restaurant during the previous week but over the last four months, 65% of adults, on average, ordered takeout or delivery for dinner on a weekly basis. Similarly at lunch, an average of 45% of adults ordered in during the prior week at the time of the survey, a spike from 37% in early March.
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Yet, the restaurant industry is on track to lose $240 billion in sales by year-end, and nearly three million of its employees remain out of work, according to the research. Additionally, 40% of operators think their restaurant likely won't survive another six months without additional relief from the federal government.
In a letter to Congress, the association asked for a second round of PPP, an expansion of the employee retention tax credit, additional tax credits to help establishments manage the cost of equipment, supplies and training geared toward mitigating Coronavirus exposure, and more.
"The foodservice industry was the nation's second largest private sector employer and pumped more than $2 trillion into the economy right up until our sudden shutdown," said Sean Kennedy, EVP, public affairs, NRA. "Making an investment in an industry that consumers love and that powers the economy is a good business and economic move for Congress."
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
