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Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is seen on television conducting a coronavirus press conference at the Kellys Irish Times on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, March 24, 2020.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call | via Getty Images
Bars and restaurants have a lot in common. Both often serve drinks and many restaurants also have bars. The same is true for food.
When I visit Erin Rose in New Orleans, I look forward to a muffaletta sandwich or, at Trick Dog in San Francisco, her signature “Trick Dog” (a hamburger on a hot dog roll with sesame seeds). Then there are bars and restaurants that blur the distinction by serving culinary cocktails like Aviary in Chicago or BarMini in Washington, D.C.
There is one other thing that independent bars and restaurants have in common: they both face extinction.
In a survey by the Independent Restaurant Coalition, for which I participate in a subcommittee, 80% of surveyed bars and restaurants believe they cannot reopen after the pandemic without help. I can relate as the owner of the Columbia Room in Washington, D.C. We may be luckier than most, but we face the real possibility of losing our business.
Take-out cocktails and a charity-based food pop-up have helped us reclaim some ground and hire some employees. But without rent relief, business interruption insurance payments and a stabilization fund, there is little chance that we will get a full year on the books.
Thursday, March 26, 2020, at Chef Geoff’s restaurant bar, in Washington, D.C., USA. USA, Hangs a takeaway sign.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg via Getty Image
More frightening than the revenue we are reducing now is the percentage we hope to reduce for the foreseeable future. A reduction of seats will be required to facilitate social distancing and lack of consumer confidence. To be honest, it’s scary to walk into a bar where the waiters look dressed for surgery and the people at the door are taking temperatures as well as IDs.
We find some relief in the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, which offers low-interest, short-term loans with the potential for forgiveness. That relief is not enough.
According to the IRC and the James Beard Foundation, only 9% of the $ 349 billion offered in the first round of PPP went to independent bars and restaurants. That despite the fact that bars and restaurants represent 60% of the lost jobs. Together, we employ 11 million people. Chains and corporations took most of the first round, including Fiesta Restaurant Group, which received $ 15 million in loans, though they produced $ 660.9 million in revenue in 2019. (The company said it would return the money.)
With the second round, which went into effect last week, there remains a lot of uncertainty and other needs that have not been addressed. Bars and restaurants took the brunt of the impact because we are consumer oriented. Even when we reopen, the chance of being busy seems unlikely. There will be regulations of social distancing and staggered opening.
Megan Kyker assists a customer at the Cotton & Reed Rum Distillery at Union Market on Friday, April 3, 2020. Many bars and restaurants are open for take-out orders during the coronavirus outbreak.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Meanwhile, some homeowners and lenders pretend that the pandemic is only happening to us. Not all, yes, but many are not willing to share the financial pain we are suffering with the forced closings of our business and the current restrictions.
We are all in business together and we trust each other to survive. Empty windows do not help anyone. Bars and restaurants need to cut rent while closed and renegotiate the terms of their leases for unprecedented losses.
We have also been hung up to dry by insurance companies. We believed that our business interruption coverage covered forced government shutdown. According to insurance companies, it did not base its claims on often confusing clauses that leave room for ambiguity or even contradict each other. Bars and restaurants are struggling to bring insurance firms like Hartford Insurance to court in class action lawsuits. We believe that we should not let insurance companies interpret contracts for their own benefit. Better to leave the judgment to the courts.
And finally, through organizations like IRC, independent bars and restaurants hope to establish a $ 120 billion stabilization fund. This grant would help reopen bars and restaurants. In addition to the financial impact we’ve taken on rents, utilities, and overdue bills, there will be upfront costs to reopen our spaces.
Chairs and tables are seen outside a closed restaurant in Washington D.C., United States, on April 24, 2020.
Liu Jie | Xinhua via Getty Images
There is one last thing that bars and restaurants share in common. We are the places where love, friendship, joy and comfort happen. In a recent tweet, I asked people to recall their favorite bar memories. They wrote about their memories when they met their spouse, got engaged, celebrated victories, reunited with longtime friends, mourned the tragedy, and simply took a seat at the bar after a hard day at work.
We have served many people; It is hard work but it is also rewarding work. All we want is to do our job. Without continued help, I’m afraid we won’t be able to do it. And, while the pandemic has caused our temporary closure, our owners, insurance companies, and the government may be the reason we shut down forever.
Derek Brown He is the President of the Drink Company, owner and founder of the award-winning cocktail bar, Columbia Room, in Washington, D.C. and author of Spirits, sugar, water, bitters: how the cocktail conquered the world. He is also a spirit judge at the prestigious San Francisco World Spirit Competition and works with many charities and organizations as an advisor. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @ideasimprove.
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