Just like the song. The governor extended the stay-at-home order until May 18.
The restaurant industry in our state is reeling. You can go from basic PR announcements to personal stories, but the facts are stark: Our industry is bleeding dry due to the pandemic and from the looks of it the amount of help we’ll get is going to be severely limited.
All you have to do is look at the federal response.The National Restaurant Association put out a report and the numbers are depressing, to say the least:
- 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
Yes, I know the entire planet is looking at the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, but we can still hope for a better future while being sad about what we’re losing.
The end of a golden era in bars and restaurants.