CNBC’s Jim Kramer said Friday he will close his New York restaurants soon due to a coronavirus epidemic but hopes to resume business when the public health crisis improves.
“I’m closing my restaurant and I’m going to close them in 10 days,” Kramer said on “Squaw on the No Street.” “I’m mothing them. When we get the vaccine, I’ll open it again.”
Kramer, who owns two restaurants in Brooklyn, said he would continue to pay rent when they were not operating. He noted that he had difficulty financing part of the shutter decision, which showed a 25% operating limit on indoor dining in the city. “At 50%, you can probably make it,” he said.
However, during the epidemic, Kramer also repeatedly expressed concern about the role of restaurants and bars in facilitating person-to-person transmission of coronavirus. “Rest restaurants are not safe to re-rent and bars. Whenever they reopen, the virus will roar again,” Kramer said on “Mad Money” on September 21.
He reiterated this concern on Friday while explaining why he would proceed to close his restaurant. The decision was “based on a combination of air flow issues, and the fact that we don’t have a vaccine, we only have therapies,” Kramer said, referring to emergency approvals for drugs such as Rimdesivir from Gilead Sciences.
The restaurant industry has been attacked by the coronavirus epidemic, especially by small and independent establishments. As of Aug. 31, 32,109 restaurateurs were closed in the U.S., according to Yelp data, of which about 61% were permanent.
Kramer has repeatedly called on Congress to provide strong support for the restaurant and the U.S. economy as a whole during the epidemic, a move that will intensify as Democratic leaders and White House officials recently tried to strike a deal on additional coronavirus relief.
While sympathizing with the struggles of small business owners, Kramer admitted that he has the financial means that most do not have.
“Look, we were the last ones to try. There’s still a couple left who have plenty of outdoor space,” Kramer said Friday, referring to the expanded outdoor dining program in New York City. “But we are not alone. I think about 50% of people are in the same situation as us.”
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