January 8, 2021
Central Mass. restaurants improved revenues 18% in 4th quarter
Photo | Grant Welker
Volturno, a pizzeria on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, has set up barriers between tables to help keep patrons safe.
By Grant Welker
The last three months of 2020 saw COVID-19 cases spike and then blow by previous highs, and many restaurants were forced to curtail their operations once colder weather set in.
But the fourth quarter was a relatively good one for Central Massachusetts restaurants: Revenue was up 18% compared to the previous three months, according to Massachusetts Department of Revenue data. That's the bright side. On the other hand, such revenue remained down 16% from the same period a year prior, demonstrating how much ground restaurants still need to make up from the hit they've taken from the pandemic.
The new data shows restaurants brought in more revenue in the colder months of October, November and December, even as cases began spiking, than they did in the warmer months of July, August and September.
In Worcester — where Wexford House, Corner Grill and Shangri-La are among those who've closed permanently, and a series of others at least temporarily — restaurant revenue climbed 16% in the fourth quarter but remained down 14% compared to a year ago. In Framingham, revenue was up 23% for the quarter but down 29% from the end of 2019.
Among other communities, Shrewsbury was up 34% for the quarter and down 5% from a year prior. Marlborough was up 10% compared to the prior quarter but down 28% compared to a year before, potentially facing an especially steep drop with many of the city's corporate offices largely empty.
Central Massachusetts restaurants took their worst hit in the second quarter of the year, from April through June, when their revenue plummeted 42%. The third quarter was down 30%.
Those trends were largely in place statewide, too. Local meals tax revenue, collected by most Massachusetts cities and towns, was up 21% in the fourth quarter compared to the third. That trend may not continue in the first quarter of 2021, however, after Gov. Charlie Baker instituted starting Dec. 26 similarly strict guidelines limiting restaurants to one-quarter of their usual capacity. That mandate has been extended to Jan. 24.
The Massachusetts Restaurant Association has warned of mass closures of eateries and bars, and has pushed for greater government aid to help restaurants survive the pandemic.
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Anonymous
January 8, 2021
What are these numbers based on?
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