7 Steps to Fix the Model for Independent Restaurants
One potential silver lining of the pandemic is repairing broken systems
As the U.S. hurtles toward its first Covid winter, here’s a silver lining sentiment to temper the gloom and doom dominating the news cycle: Maybe, just maybe, all this devastation will expose the broken things in American society and create an opening to fix them.
The Great Chicago Fire gave rise to the city’s iconic skyscrapers; the blizzard of 1888 prompted New York City to take its trains and power lines underground; the Great Depression spawned FDR’s New Deal. When the current slow-motion disaster is finally behind us, what overdue changes might emerge from the wreckage?
The restaurant industry, which has taken a bigger hit than perhaps any other sector of the economy amid the pandemic, is a prime candidate for transformation. Restaurants are on track to lose $240 billion in sales by the end of the year, according to the National Restaurant Association. Nearly 100,000 of the nation’s 600,000-some restaurants are now closed either permanently or long-term; over 2 million of its employees are out of work. These numbers are so large as to defy comprehension, but consider that in the year following the 2008 financial collapse, only around 4,000 restaurants closed nationally.
‘Everything we’ve heard about the impact of Covid is people with underlying conditions are really susceptible. The reality is, that’s the case with industries as well. The independent restaurant business was hurt so dramatically so quickly in part because it was a flawed business model in general.’
The pandemic has been a nuclear blast to the hospitality sector, but it’s no secret that the industry was already in trouble. The past decade has been a golden age for American diners, as an explosion of restaurants resulted in unprecedented choice, value, and quality when it comes to where to go for a meal. For restaurant owners, though, rising costs and intense competition made the business increasingly unstable.
