Photo | Grant Welker
Sole Proprietor, a popular Worcester seafood restaurant, has temporarily closed because of the coronavirus outbreak.
April 21, 2020
Survey: 80% of Mass. restaurants have temporarily closed
Photo | Grant Welker
Downtown Worcester's deadhorse hill restaurant is among those that have temporarily closed because of the coronavirus outbreak.
By Grant Welker
Four out of five Massachusetts restaurants have temporarily closed during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a survey by the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, showing how many eateries have chosen to close their doors for health or financial reasons.
The survey, conducted Friday, got responses from around 1,000 restaurateurs, with those with more than one location counted just once. Of those, only 20% said they've remained open for delivery or takeout.
Nearly half of restaurants, or 45%, said they attempted to continue take-out and delivery only before choosing to close.
"Initially some people tried to do it," Bob Luz, the president and CEO of the Westborough-based restaurant group, said in an interview. More and more, though, he added, some have decided it best to close entirely for the time being.
Since the outbreak began hitting Massachusetts, 93% of restaurants in the state said they've laid off or furloughed staff, bringing employment down by 87%. Restaurant sales in Massachusetts were down nearly $1 billion in March, and the Massachusetts Restaurant Association projects a $1.3 billion decline in April.
That list includes some prominent Central Massachusetts restaurants: deadhorse hill in Worcester, the Niche Hospitality Group's six restaurants, including Fix Burger Bar and Mezcal Tequila Cantina, and the Worcester Restaurant Group's three locations, Sole Proprietor, 111 Chop House and Via Italian Table. O'Connor's Restaurant & Bar in Worcester and Civic Kitchen & Drink in Westborough are also among those closed for now.
Owners of those temporarily closed restaurants have said they've primarily worried about the safety of their employees and customers.
"It wasn't worth it," said Robb Ahlquist, who owns the Worcester Restaurant Group with his wife, Madeleine.
"There's no social distancing at a restaurant," said Michael Covino, the president of Niche. "You're working side-by-side. You can't do it."
Luz said he wasn't surprised so many restaurants have chosen to close temporarily. In cities that normally have busier weekday restaurant traffic, including Worcester but especially Boston, there simply aren't enough events, workers or college students around to make staying open economically viable, he said.
"There's just too many options for the small population that lives there," Luz said.
Suburbs with fewer restaurants, on the other hand, have tended to have more restaurants remaining open, he added.
Photo | Grant Welker
Businesses along Worcester's Main Street have shuttered to in-store operations in response to coronavirus. The restaurant Armsby Abbey is offering outside pickup for customers.
The Massachusetts Restaurant Association has been working with state legislators to craft a potential industry protection program and has been in touch with the governor's office to figure out an eventual reopening strategy. For now, restaurants are closed to all except takeout and delivery through at least May 4, though that reopening date has already been delayed before. Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday extended the closure of Massachusetts schools until the end of the school year, and the non-essential business shutdown, which includes restaurant dining rooms, has mirrored the school closures.
Across the state, an estimated 211,000 restaurant workers have been furloughed, Luz said, and the restaurant group hopes for a bill to allow eateries to use money now to restock shelves and for hiring back workers once it's safer and more feasible to do so.
The federal Paycheck Protection Program is not well suited to the industry. The program requires businesses to maintain their payroll through what's expected to be the worst of the pandemic, but restaurants are effectively unable to operate during that period, he said.
"We might not even be open for six of those eight weeks," Luz said of the federal aid program's effective period.
"The PPP does not work for the restaurant industry," Luz added. "It's not meant for a business that's closed with no reopening in sight, and then a slow, slow reopening from there."
State industry groups have been working to help their members.
The Massachusetts Restaurant Association launched a website, carryoutma.com, that lists restaurants that remain open. It also lists information about employee assistance and available government relief programs. The Massachusetts Brewers Guild also has a site, called Mass Beer To go, that lists the dozens of breweries across the state that remain open.
The picture of the industry nationally is bleak as well. The National Restaurant Association said Monday its survey of more than 6,500 operators found that average sales were down 78% compared to a year ago. Even industry segments better geared toward takeout were down dramatically: quick-service restaurants were down 57% in revenue, and fast casual by 64%.
The National Restaurant Association said it estimates the restaurant and food service industry will lose more than $50 billion in sales in April. It estimates more than 8 million restaurant employees, or more than two-third of the usual workforce, have been laid off or furloughed since the beginning of the outbreak in March.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments