The War Mouth Courtyard
Research from South Carolina restaurants shows that while the pandemic appears to be subsiding, the damaging effects on the hospitality industry are more severe than ever.
The South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association released a report this week detailing these results and others based on the January restaurant business. Among the most glaring statistics is the continued drop in sales compared to last year, with 78% of respondents saying they faced January worse than a year ago. Overall, sales fell 25% between January 2020 and January 2021.
35 percent of homeowners expected sales to drop last month and this month. 30 percent do not expect business to return to “normal levels” in seven to 12 months, and 24 percent still think it will take more than a year.
The survey also found that 11 percent of South Carolina restaurant owners “say that ‘probably’ or ‘definitely’ will be closed in 3 months” without further help from the federal government.
Despite this pessimism, Bobby Williams, the association’s president, had an optimistic outlook.
“I think in South Carolina, I think in late spring, we’ll be back on our way,” said the owner of the Lizard’s Thicket restaurant chain in the Columbia area.
Williams pointed to the potential for a strong tourism season in the spring and fall, along with the growing number of vaccinations. In addition, he suggested that events – such as the Rosewood Crawfish Festival, which announced on March 3 that it planned to go ahead with a personal celebration on May 1 – are likely to start to emerge and help even more struggling companies.
A year ago, the cancellation or removal of spectators from various events, such as the Augusta’s Masters golf tournament (which spreads to Columbia with people looking for accommodation) and local favorite St. Pats at Five Points, which was canceled again this year year, it harmed many prospects for restaurants, along with state regulations for closing dining rooms.
Restaurant workers are also taking their share of the damage, according to the SCRLA survey. 22% of employers laid off employees in December and January. 69 percent of employers have lower than normal staffing levels. And only 19% of employers expected to increase the number of employees in February and March.
But Williams was equally optimistic that the future prospects for employers would improve. He called it an “employee market” due to the number of owners who could seek to hire.
“No, no business is going to improve now. For sure, let’s get back to normal, ”he said.
The report also detailed that the pivot for immediate sales did not affect much. Of the owners who increased take-away sales, 71% said it represented less than 30% of lost sales on the spot.
The National Restaurant Association released its own version of this report last month. South Carolina’s results are somewhat more encouraging, with 61% of national respondents expecting it to take seven to 12 months or more than a year for business to return to normal.
This survey divided by restaurant sector. Predictably, respondents at fine restaurants hoped it would take longer for normalcy to return, while coffee and snacks, fast-casual restaurants and fast-service restaurants were the most optimistic.
Another statement from the national trade group detailed that January was the first month in four to record an increase in restaurant sales. However, as in South Carolina, they still fell significantly below pre-pandemic levels.
