NRA Tells Congress Thousands More Restaurants Will Close

By: Multi-Unit Franchisee
Published: December 17th, 2020

The National Restaurant Association is asking Congress for additional financial help for its industry and sharing new survey findings to illustrate the restaurant industry’s ongoing struggles.

In a letter to Congressional leadership, Sean Kennedy, executive vice president for public affairs at the NRA said, "What these findings make clear is that more than 500,000 restaurants of every business type - franchise, chain, and independent - are in an economic free fall. And for every month that passes without a solution from Congress, thousands more restaurants will close their doors for good."

The National Restaurant Association Research Group conducted the survey of 6,000 restaurant operators and 250 supply chain businesses Nov. 17-30, 2020, and the findings were stark:

• Eighty-seven percent of full service restaurants (independent, chain, and franchise) report an average 36% drop in sales revenue. Eighty-three percent of full service operators expect sales to be even worse over the next three months. 
• Although sales are significantly lower for most independent and franchise owners, their costs have not fallen by a proportional level. Fifty-nine percent of operators say their total labor costs (as a percentage of sales) are higher than they were pre-pandemic.
• Fifty-eight percent of chain and independent full service operators expect continued furloughs and layoffs for at least the next three months.

The tide of restaurants closures and bankruptcies continues to rise-sweeping away jobs in some of the most venerated independent and chain restaurants:

• As of today, 17% of restaurants - more than 110,000 establishments - are closed permanently or long-term.

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