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The state of the restaurant industry

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Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#251

Post by HammockTester »

mech1234 wrote: post #147
slg wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Loans don't solve this. It isn't like once this is over restaurant patronage will jump up to 200% of normal. This is business these companies will never get back. Giving them a loan that they can't repay is just delaying the problem.

Spreading the problem out over a long period of time keeps the company in business. It's a no-brainer good idea for the SBA to do this. Not sure what you would prefer instead.

I'll take a crack at it. I would prefer commercial rent abatements combined with commercial property tax abatements. The same would make sense for residential as well. Unemployment payments should be increased and restaurants should temporarily lay off staff as needed.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#252

Post by coldtea »

spookthesunset wrote: post #247
rosybox wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's going to be wiped out far beyond June. Based on the recent models run by UK, the same models that prompted the White House to warn against gatherings of greater than 10 people, the curve doesn't end even without intervention until August. With intervention what we are going through right now could last well into 2021.

Stop with the doomsday panic. This lockdown thing isn’t going to last more than a few weeks at most—at least without massive social upheaval. Source: my ill informed opinion, same as yours. same source as yours.

>Stop with the doomsday panic. This lockdown thing isn’t going to last more than a few weeks at most—at least without massive social upheaval.

Social upheaval against a "lockdown" becomes a moot point if people you know keep dropping dead.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#253

Post by dylan604 »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #228
mcv wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Food delivery to homes will probably boom. That's going to be the replacement for visiting a restaurant in the coming weeks or months. But every luxury industry that involves going outside and meeting people will be wiped out. The tourist industry is going to be completely dead for a while. Hopefully it can be revived afterward. Hopefully the people involved can find other jobs in the mean time. But it's going to be…

if you're home all day long one of the main spurs for going out to eat is gone, at the end of the day you're no longer too tired to make food, you're not getting home too late to make it at a good time, you don't need to save time. Thus the only spur left to wanting to order food is eating something tasty you can't make at home easily - I admit that is good but given that the delivery is also a potential virus delive…

>if you're home all day long one of the main spurs for going out to eat is gone,

Actually, if I'm home all day long, I like to go out to socialize. The normal daily interactions with co-workers/clients/etc is now removed by working from home. While I don't eat out that much, Happy Hour has become a thing for me. Now, I guess I'm going to have to start labeling myself an alcoholic since I've resorted to drinking alone at home.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#254

Post by bjourne »

baby wrote: post #107
slg wrote: post #39

The government has talked about bailouts for various industries from airlines, to cruise ships, to shale companies. But almost every sector of the US economy is going to be hit by this and I have no idea how we are going to react. Will there be a restaurant bailout? What would that even look like? It is much easier to work on bailing out a handful of airlines but how do you handle it for literally thousands of small…

UBI is honestly the only solution here.

Shorter working hours is another solution. I think that makes a lot of sense now that the global economy is contracting. More fair that jobs are "shared fairly" rather than that some gets to keep theirs and others don't.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#255

Post by irrational »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #228
mcv wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Food delivery to homes will probably boom. That's going to be the replacement for visiting a restaurant in the coming weeks or months. But every luxury industry that involves going outside and meeting people will be wiped out. The tourist industry is going to be completely dead for a while. Hopefully it can be revived afterward. Hopefully the people involved can find other jobs in the mean time. But it's going to be…

if you're home all day long one of the main spurs for going out to eat is gone, at the end of the day you're no longer too tired to make food, you're not getting home too late to make it at a good time, you don't need to save time. Thus the only spur left to wanting to order food is eating something tasty you can't make at home easily - I admit that is good but given that the delivery is also a potential virus delive…

I'd like to believe this is true, but I once was at my boss's house and saw inside his fridge. All it has was a few beers. I asked him where his food was and he said he ate out for every meal. He was a single guy in a 5000 square foot home on an acre of land. I suppose he could afford to buy every meal out. I kind of doubt he will magically start using his kitchen.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#257

Post by true_religion »

Ensorceled wrote: post #115
threatofrain wrote: post #28

Perhaps US eat-out culture will die, and those who worked those jobs will just have to find some other means by which to negotiate value from the economy.

> find some other means by which to negotiate value from the economy Do people actually talk like this about the livelihood of millions of people in real life, or is an affectation for HN?

It’s simple emotional distancing. For many, talking about sad things makes them irrational or depressed, so if it has to be discussed it will be done so in academic terms.

The less conversant you are with the actual academia, the more contrived the terms you invent will be. I doubt many did more than undergrad business or economic here.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#258

Post by v64 »

sambroner wrote: post #227
_delirium wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not legal in most places, but being temporarily legalized in some. Washington, DC is passing a bill this afternoon [1] allowing takeout places to deliver beer/wine if ordered with at least one food item. I'm guessing other cities will pass something similar. [1] edit: See section 203 photographed here: https://twitter.com/mitchryals/status/1239938801839099905

I couldn't find this by googling. Can you post a link?

It's part of the COVID-19 Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 [1] that was passed today.

[1] http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=653228&f=109&s=277...

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#259

Post by linuxftw »

slg wrote: post #53
thedogeye wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SBA just announced a program for loans up to $2M at 3.75% to make payroll

Loans don't solve this. It isn't like once this is over restaurant patronage will jump up to 200% of normal. This is business these companies will never get back. Giving them a loan that they can't repay is just delaying the problem.

I'm assuming the loans are to make payroll for work already done. Many businesses don't have the cash on hand to pay for the work that was already done, they're relying on revenue from that work or past work that is now being paid to pay their employees.

Frankly, I think the restaurant industry is over built and many of them deserve to close. The margins are non existent, most of the food is terrible, it's the ultimate bubble economy business.

Re: The state of the restaurant industry

#260

Post by dylan604 »

coldtea wrote: post #252
spookthesunset wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop with the doomsday panic. This lockdown thing isn’t going to last more than a few weeks at most—at least without massive social upheaval. Source: my ill informed opinion, same as yours. same source as yours.

> Stop with the doomsday panic. This lockdown thing isn’t going to last more than a few weeks at most—at least without massive social upheaval. Social upheaval against a "lockdown" becomes a moot point if people you know keep dropping dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdf5EXo6I68

Until this happens, I won't really think it was a "big deal" at all, and more along the lines of being merely a flesh wound.

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