We didn’t build, now that rent is insane no one will be able to pay it. What happens next? Will all the service workers end up homeless rather than a decent fraction?
The state of the restaurant industry
451–460 of 591 posts
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#452Hubby and I own a coffee shop. We closed up on Monday. We have cash reserves to pay our staff and rent for a month (As if they are still working). Praying we’ll be able to increase online bean sales to cover payroll before then.
It might be better to lay them all off right now, and let them collect covid unemployment benefits. Maybe give them a bonus on the way out the door if the math doesn’t work out well enough for them.
That way, you’ll have the cash reserve left over to reliably reopen (and rehire them) after the crisis.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#453Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The ability of my local Chinese place to serve customers is undiminished, my desire to eat Chinese food is undiminished, and all that's in the way is an ultimately temporary law. Agreed on this. But the rent paid out during the period of reduced revenue coming in creates a delta that this loan is filling in. The loan still needs to be paid back (even assuming 0% interest). That extra money needs to come from somewh…
A better way would be to suspend all debt collection and rent collection for x months. That will keep lots of small businesses alive, and employees on reduced salaries will still be able to feed their families if they don't have to worry about rent. Throw in food stamps for the unemployed and you're most of the way to keeping a nation going.
If by “suspend” you mean cancel the debt due in the quarantine months than I definitely agree: in both moral and economic terms it would be best for the rent-seekers to take as much of the hit as possible.
But if it’s just a pause in collection, and you still owe that money, then it’s the same old margin problem: very few restaurants make enough money to repay that loan no matter who it comes from.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#454Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#455Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see how this can be over in less than 3 months.
Based on what data? If you think society will tolerate this kind of lockdown for more than a few weeks, you need to rethink your stance. If we are locked up for 3 months like this you will have your doomsday scenario. Our entire supply chain will fall apart. People won’t get food, medicine, things that make them happy. Sporting events, social gatherings, etc. People will become depressed and kill themselves. People w…
If we aren’t locked down for 6 months, probably more than 2 million Americans will die from coronavirus his year.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#456Earlier quoted context omitted.
You say that, but at the white house task force press conferences they're setting the signal pretty clearly. Reporter: "How long?" Trump: "July, August, maybe longer."
Better go get guns if you believe that ‘cause a 3 month lockdown will be much, much, much, much worse than the virus. This ain’t gonna be more than a few weeks tops. People have lost their damn minds. Go outside and get some fresh air.
You’ll change your tune in about two weeks as hospitals start to fill and people you care about start dying.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#457I've been trying to encourage people to support local eateries by getting takeout.
I have a compromised immune system. I don't do a lot of eating at restaurants. I do get a lot of takeout and have for a lot of years now.
If you call ahead or order online and pick up, it minimizes your exposure to other people. Little Caesar's has a pizza portal where you can order online, pay online, enter a code at the store and retrieve your own pizza from a customer-facing warming oven without ever directly interacting with a person.
If you aren't sucking wind financially as a consequence of layoffs and shut downs, getting takeout can help protect our economy from a total meltdown while fostering new habits for a healthier future culture.
I'm still getting takeout and some staff at eateries are beginning to greet me enthusiastically by my first name like I'm their best friend, apparently thrilled to pieces to have a regular customer while business is hurting.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#458Earlier quoted context omitted.
Based on what data? If you think society will tolerate this kind of lockdown for more than a few weeks, you need to rethink your stance. If we are locked up for 3 months like this you will have your doomsday scenario. Our entire supply chain will fall apart. People won’t get food, medicine, things that make them happy. Sporting events, social gatherings, etc. People will become depressed and kill themselves. People w…
People in Hubei are closing in on 3 months of lockdown. Other provinces not far behind. Are Americans really that uncivilised they cannot bear the thought of several months locked down in the comfort of their own homes?
A good number of us will be locked out in the comfort of the fucking street if we can't pay the damn rent.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#459Earlier 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. Social upheaval against a "lockdown" becomes a moot point if people you know keep dropping dead.
People will start dropping dead from social unrest, addiction, substance abuse, suicide, etc. this “lockdown” isn’t free. It has massive health impacts that could easily outweight any lives saved by the lockdown. People need to put on their critical thinking caps around here. What is the end game of this lockdown? What data is it based on? How will we know when to end it—given all factors, which include vastly more t…
The end game of the lockdown is the disease burning out over the course of 9 months instead of 1 month, giving more time to find a treatment or vaccine and fewer people dying untreated because hospitals are full.
The alternative is to let 2 million Americans die this summer.
Re: The state of the restaurant industry
#460Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "Normal wages" for many restaurant workers in the U.S. exclude tips. Without tips, "normal wages" is below the minimum wage. Restaurants are required to bump tipped employees up to the non-tipped minimum wage if the tips don't put them over it. Thus, "normal wages" in this case would be the non-tipped minimum wage.
What a bizarre interpretation of 'minimum wage' and 'tip'! This means that the restaurant owner essentially collects (part of) the tips? So you could employ a restaurant worker at $0/h and then bump them to minimum wage, because the tips will never cut it? Basically, you'd be collecting all the tips? This cannot seriously be legal!?
if (wages+tips) < minimum_wage then
wages = minimum_wages
end