Restaurant chains were set to suffer major losses since the beginning of the pandemic.
Even with dining rooms reopening in some parts of the country, it’s still nearly impossible for casual-dining restaurants to generate a profit at reduced dine-in capacity.
As a result, many chains have permanently closed some stores, and some brands have decided to throw in the towel altogether.
IHOP, Denny’s, and TGI Fridays are among the nine chains that have cumulatively closed over 600 restaurants for good.
As soon as the pandemic hit, restaurant-industry experts knew that many restaurants wouldn’t make it through. On April 1, UBS predicted that one in five restaurants may close as a result of the pandemic.
Even though much of America is opening up, most locales have implemented social-distancing guidelines that make it impossible for restaurants to generate a profit even if they reopen dining rooms. And early data has indicated that reopening isn’t the fiscal cure-all some hoped it would be, especially for restaurants…….more here