In a post to the organization’s site on Wednesday, the National Restaurant Association said that as many as 3% of restaurant owners have already permanently closed in response to the pandemic while 44% have temporarily closed. In the next 30 days, a full 11% of restaurants will close permanently. According to a survey of 4,00 restaurant owners and operators, the data showed the following:
- Nationwide, sales were down 47% during the period from March 1 to March 22
- 54% of restaurant operators have switched to off-premises service only
- Seven in 10 operators have had to lay off employees and reduce the number of hours worked
- Roughly half of them anticipate more layoffs and hourly reductions over the next 30 days
- More than six in 10 said they’ve had to reduce their operating hours
Hudson Riehle, the Association’s senior vice president of research, said the data shows we are in “uncharted territory.”
“Association research found that 54% of operators made the switch to all off-premises services; 44% have had to temporarily close down. This is uncharted territory,” said Riehle. “The industry has never experienced anything like this before.”
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open up outdoor distanced dining to save our restaurants in states with low covid numners
save our economy from total collapse, look at sweden etc