COLUMBUS, Ohio — There have been many ups and downs for the restaurant and bar industry this year.
“For us, we’re scared,” Renard Green said.
Renard Green is the owner of Camelot Cellars, an urban winery and restaurant in Old Town East.
They were deemed essential during the shutdown earlier this year.
“We were able to keep the lights on barely, I had to dip into my personal funds account to keep things going,” Green said.
As COVID-19 cases rise, owners are getting nervous about another possible shut down.
“You have the knee-jerk reaction, the oh crap reaction, oh crap what are we going to do,” Green said.
Those in the industry feel they’ve gone above and beyond this whole year to keep guests and staff safe.
Owners mentioned health inspectors coming in consistently to make sure they’re following guidelines.
“Restaurants are already the most regulated, non-hospital business, you can imagine right in terms of all the procedures all of the safety measures already in place,” John Barker, Ohio Restaurant Association CEO said.
“It’s our industry that’s punished for that even though we’ve proved all summer long that we can do this,” Kyle Hofmeister said.
Hofmeister is an owner of Gemut Biergarten.
They said they’ve spent a lot of money on items such as shields for inside their businesses, masks, cleaning supplies, outdoor tents and heating.
Adding all of those expenses to the large portion of the profits they lost during the shutdown, is overwhelming and frustrating.
“We had one of those PPE loans for payroll and additional things, we used that to bump everybody’s, especially the service staff’s hourly pay to make sure they’re protected just in case it slows down a little bit, so they don’t rely on tips so much,” Hofmeister said.
Even with the help, owners feel it just hasn’t been enough for how much they’ve spent or lost.
“We’ve had to limit capacity almost 60%. So think about that, 60% of your dollars have been cut,” Green said.
Owners told us they understand decisions need to be made to keep everyone safe, but as for talk of another shutdown, they’re a bit confused.
“I’m not sure this is the something that is going to make the biggest difference,” Hofmeister said.
They said provisions need to be put in place if it ever did come down to that option.
“It can’t just be shut this down and you haven’t thought through how you’re going to help those businesses that are going to be affected by that shut down and you’re very specific in the businesses that you are targeting, you need to make sure there is money available to sustain those businesses, otherwise a lot are just not going to come back,” Green said.
They’re constantly worrying about their staff and being able to provide for them.
“We can still operate as a brewery and beer delivery service if we don’t have any onsite business. We can’t operate as a restaurant that way. Our margins with delivery stuff just aren’t where they need to be to do that. If we do shut down again and it’s the same shutdown as last time, unfortunately, all my staffs going to have to go on unemployment and we’re going to have to hope for more government assistance at that point,” Hofmeister said.
If there isn’t a shutdown, there are still many worries going through their minds with everything they’ve already gone through.
No matter what happens within the next few weeks to months, they fear several places won’t even recover from all of this.
Owners said they feel corporate ones may not struggle as much, but the smaller independently owned ones may.
“We don’t necessarily have the banking relationships, we don’t have the endowments, we don’t have the ability to right size because we are right size, so if I cut something, again there’s a cost to that cut,” Green said.
“They’re fighters right, this industry is filled with fighters,” Barker said.
He said there are grants and refunds out there already.
“There’s a number of things that have been put in place that were announced by the governor’s office, so there’s the bureau of compensation refund that was announced. People will be getting that money. Small businesses had a chance to go for the grant which was up to 10,000 dollars,” Barker said.
There’s also the refunds available for businesses that have their liquor license.
However, he mentioned that more still needs to be done, more federal help.
“They won’t make it on their own,” Barker said.
Barker said 58% is the percent of operators, who participated in their last poll, they don’t believe they can survive into 2021 under current conditions.
The association works closely with the governor and recently proposed alternatives to him in order to keep the restaurant and bar industry going, safely.
“The key is going to be for all these businesses that are on the edge, congress needs to come together and they need to pass another relief bill,” Barker said.
He said another paycheck protection plan is needed as well.
“Which is the big one that went through last year to save businesses, and we need that fast. This is not something that can wait until late January. That’s way too late and we’re just not going to stand for it,” Barker said.
Many of the owners we spoke with said during this period of uncertainty, they are continuing to work on delivery options and carryout options, just in case.