The coronavirus pandemic has acted as a wrecking ball for most if not all small businesses across the country. One group that has been hit especially hard is the restaurant industry. Even prior to the pandemic, the success of a restaurant is tenuous, relying heavily on the community that the restaurant is based in to provide it with income. On top of this, the profit margins on most meals are very low, and much of a restaurant’s income comes from sides and drinks. With the pandemic, bars were immediately closed and even though many restaurant’s offer to go drinks, i.e. beer or cocktails, the sales of these items reduced drastically. Without indoor seating for several months many restaurants saw the number of customers drop as well. All of these factors contributed to the fact that many restaurants have closed or are severely struggling at the moment.
The recent spikes in coronavirus cases around the country in addition to the current holiday season have exacerbated these problems immensely. Normally in Harrisonburg when the students go home for the holidays it gives the locals a chance to dine out at their favorite restaurants without them being filled with college kids. However, considering that the past week was Thanksgiving, for which many people ignored the CDC’s recommendations and hosted or took part in large family gatherings, this is not happening. People are afraid to go out until they are sure that the spike in cases that Thanksgiving will inevitably bring has abated. This, coupled with the students who generally do not care enough to not go out leaving, means that many local restaurants have seen the slowest week since the start of the pandemic.
Having a week of next to no business after months of struggle is severely disheartening to restaurant owners and employees; the general assumption being that the majority of customers simply will not dine out until after the holiday season. This is considering in a few short weeks Christmas and then New Year’s will be upon us and similar spikes will occur as people again ignore CDC recommendations to avoid family gatherings. Having to wait until mid-January for business to return in any consistent manner will likely cause a large number of restaurants to close. They have already been struggling since March when the pandemic hit the United States, and have been slowly spending their reserves of money. The government offered some aid early on in the year, but has not given a second round of relief to struggling businesses.
This is all to say, from a restaurant worker, please take this time to support your local businesses. Though my main focus was on restaurants, all small businesses are struggling. If we as communities do not support them, they will close. Please do your part to help them stay afloat, especially during this holiday season.
