Covid 19 coronavirus: Blockade hits Auckland CBD restaurants struggling after 70% recession in summer

Not all restaurants will survive this week’s fast closing, warns a longtime Auckland hotel operator.

Mandy Lusk, co-owner of Fort St’s Vivace, says staff left work crying last night and many diners left mid-meal when their cell phones issued a Civil Defense warning around 8:30 p.m.

Valentine’s Day diners had booked up to the max at downtown restaurants, much to the relief of operators reporting lousy turnover in January.

“We had no one at 9 o’clock and we should have been full until midnight,” Lusk said. She is a co-owner of Vivace with her husband, Eugene Gibson. The couple estimate they lost $ 10,000 a week during last year’s closed closings and refinanced their home to stay afloat.

“Everybody is so scared now because we have been banned from trading again for three days and there is no support.”

Lusk says that restaurants that cannot trade in Level 3 conditions should receive more assistance than businesses that can still operate staffed at home.

“A law firm, for example, can still bill its clients, but a small bar or restaurant has no income … If they close for more than a week, there is talk of some kind of assistance, but we went with the staff crying at the end of the night, being locked in their tiny apartments again. “

The government has previously indicated that wage subsidies, currently set at $ 585 per week, would be available if closings lasted more than seven days, but hotel operators say they have yet to make contributions to KiwiSaver and vacation pay.

“The real concern for all of us now is that even if we open on Thursday, no one will be in town,” Lusk said. “Last night, all you could see on the street were people arriving in their cars and taking chairs and monitors out of their offices. That lasted three hours.”

Vivace, on Fort St, is surrounded by quarantine managed isolation hotels. Lusk said clients had told him they were nervous about meeting MIQ staff at the center. The constant lack of tourists, combined with large companies allowing staff to work from home, ongoing road works, and public transport problems (including limited train arrivals to Britomart) contributed to a 70% trade drop in January, compared to the same period last year. .

In a recent small sample Restaurant Association survey, 65 percent of Auckland respondents said January turnover was lower, or significantly lower, than in 2020. Operators reported an increase after the national year close last but they said the August shutdown in Auckland alone shook confidence and the request to stay out of the city center in November had had an impact on Christmas party bookings. While some suburban restaurants were negotiating extremely well, that seemed to be at the expense of the CBD.

“It’s getting a little bit more difficult each time,” Lusk said. “For both retail and some hospitality venues, there’s no fat left. We’ve had a terrible summer … In some places, it’s literally going to get too hard. It’s not knowing how long and not knowing whether to keep happening. every time we have three people [with community transmission]. “

She said that “absolutely” the business would be closed.

“I think this [lockdown] it will speed up some people’s decision-making processes. “

Marisa Bidois, executive director of the Restaurant Association, acknowledged reports that New Zealand was “doing well financially,” but restaurants had not necessarily benefited.

“Those who can afford it are spending more on expensive items and upgrading their homes. E-card transactions for December show that spending in retail industries increased 3.5 percent, but hospitality spending was down 5 percent.” .

Krishna Botica, co-owner of Cafe Hanoi, Saan and Xuxu restaurants, described the summer’s business results as “brutal”, particularly for businesses in the city center. Sunday night’s announcement was a hit, given the reservations for Valentine’s Day.

“Last week, we saw a rebound that seemed hopeful. There was some buoyancy after the long weekends … However, the biggest problem is the side effect. Even if we go to alert level 2 or even level 1 “We’re expecting two weeks of very smooth trading, due to panic. People are being reminded that there is a pandemic and they just aren’t making plans.”

He agreed that restaurant industry closures were inevitable.

“I’m sure there will be a lot of struggle to discuss what they can sell, maybe negotiate with the owners. I can’t think of many restaurants that have enough cash flow to spend another two weeks of soft negotiation.”

Apothecary was in Saan, on Ponsonby Rd, when the sound of Civil Defense phone alarms smashed Sunday night’s dinner service.

“It was a bit surreal. All of our reservations came in, we all had our heads down and we were in a rage and all of a sudden everyone started reaching for their phones and all these date nights seemed a little disconnected from each other – an unusual aspect of Valentine, must said. “