New York | Washington finally approved a massive $ 900 billion plan to support the economy after months of negotiations, but that aid may not be enough for thousands of restaurants struggling to survive in a world turned upside down by the pandemic. Covid-19.
“We have our backs completely against the wall,” Vivian Forte, owner, with her husband, of the Pisticci restaurant in New York told AFP. “None of us are making any money right now.”
She recounts her relief when President Donald Trump ratified the stimulus package after harboring doubts for several days.
The restaurateur, who was preparing to lay off all the staff, put a lot on this plan to keep her head above water.
Thousands of kilometers away, in Portland (north-west), Andrew Volk still does not know if he will apply for federal aid because he wonders about the frequentation of his restaurants, Hunt and Alpine Club , once it will no longer be possible to serve on the terrace, from January 4.
He expects a reduction in activity during the winter and is betting only on take-out.
“Pad”
“We have no idea what will happen to our business once the snow melts,” says Mr. Volk, a member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. This lobby, created this year, includes some 500,000 establishments directly employing around 11 million people.
If he welcomes the new stimulus package, Andrew Volk believes that it is only “a temporary dressing”.
This program provides for 284 billion dollars for loans to SMEs, a program called PPP.
The Covid-19 pandemic has already led to the disappearance of some 110,000 restaurants in the United States, or one sixth of establishments in the country affected by activity restrictions and physical distancing measures put in place in several states.
Restaurants have also seen their costs increase due to spending to comply with health authority requirements and the purchase of personal protective equipment.
Nine months after the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States, a survey by the National Retail Association paints general malaise.
A majority of restaurants say they will continue to resort to layoffs for the next three months.
“Those who do have only adapted” to the circumstances, underlines Dimitri Fetokakis, owner of Niko Niko’s, a chain of restaurants specializing in Greek cuisine in Houston (Texas).
In the early days of the pandemic, Niko Niko’s cut manager salaries by 40% to respond to the ban on dining. The latter were immediately assigned to the take-out service.
The establishment also organized pop-up sales in the suburbs, strengthened its online presence and offered free deliveries.
“It’s as if we were soliciting,” smiles Mr. Fetokakis, who will apply for a government loan.
“Waste”
He explains that one of his restaurants located in the heart of the business district suffers particularly from the fact that many professionals are forced to telework.
In North Carolina, attendance at RayNathan’s fluctuates, an unpredictability that makes it difficult to manage food supplies for this barbecue restaurant.
“You either waste or lose sales when you don’t have enough,” says Steve Carroll, one of the owners.
Money received from the first $ 2.2 trillion stimulus package adopted in March had kept RayNathan’s from laying off employees.
But like other SMEs, the restaurant had to spend it within eight weeks, a deadline extended in June to 24 weeks, which did not save money as the epidemic continued.
While this first aid is hailed for saving many small businesses from bankruptcy and stopping layoffs, critics have lamented that big businesses – Shake Shack, etc. – took advantage of it.
The recent support plan is generous with restaurateurs since it allows them to apply for a loan the amount of which may be three and a half times greater than their salary expenses. They can also tax deduct the overhead costs incurred with these loans.
However, the sector did not obtain the specific assistance of 120 billion dollars that it was asking for, like the airline sector.
“It just wasn’t possible at this point,” says Mike Whatley, vice president of the National Restaurant Association, confident the lobby will continue to put pressure on politicians.
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