October sales at U.S. restaurants declined for the first month since the economic recovery began last spring, according to data amassed by the U.S. census bureau.
“October’s sales decline is a troubling sign for the industry, as the month likely included some of the last opportunities for outdoor dining in many parts of the country,” the National Restaurant Association (NRA) wrote in a statement citing the census bureau’s data.
“Factoring in indoor dining restrictions currently being reimposed in some jurisdictions, it becomes clear that the winter months will represent” a threat to the survival of eateries that depend on indoor service, the statement said.
“We continue to support aggressive steps to support… public health,” NRA president Tom Bené wrote in a 17 November letter to the National Governors Association. “But there is an unfounded impression that restaurants are part of the problem and we are suffering as a result of inconsistent, restrictive mandates. Tens of thousands of additional restaurant bankruptcies – and millions of lost jobs – are now more likely, while the science remains inconclusive on whether any health benefits will accrue.”
TRENDPOST: As we have been reporting, the rules made up regarding not wearing a mask when you sit down down and eat but being forced to put one on when standing up (whether eating inside or out) and capacity limitations and social distancing distances are being enforced on businesses despite a scintilla of scientific evidence to support them.
COVID War rules waged upon small business owners by government-imposed draconian mandates will wreak economic and emotional devastation from which many will never recover.
