True but this is a novel virus with no current treatment or vaccination with the potential of overwhelming our healthcare system.
Most of our everyday restaurants are surviving with take out and curbside. Certainly there’s a segment of finer dining not set up to handle this demand.
The partial shutdowns were put in place to limit not only the effects on our healthcare system but the long term effects on our economy which is dependent on consumer spending driven by their confidence.
This virus is on its own schedule . There is no flipping a switch returning to the identical normalcy we had before at this time. The sooner we accept the realities and prepare our communities for the new normal with plans to restore consumer confidence the quicker our economy can begin to overcome.
Blue, we'll just be on opposite ends of the spectrum but I'll tell you this. My family and friends are in the restaurant business in Eastern PA. They are not surviving and most are closed. Diners weren't made for takeout exclusively and their business model, for the most part, is based on fair and reasonable pricing with a high volume of customers. Most went from making thousands of dollars a day in revenue to a couple of hundred. That won't cover your payroll, lease, utilities, food costs, etc. Most of my family and friends tried to hang tough but they couldn't do it.
The damage to economy is going to be extensive. Small businesses will not just open up and expect to stay open with social distancing. This will affect suppliers, employees and various segments of the economy. Mark my words. Mortgage and lease obligations will not be met and will have to be renegotiated for businesses to stay afloat which, in turn, is going to depreciate property values, which, in turn, will affect how banks give loans because the appraisal value, post virus, is going to be shit. If someone is in financial distress, the logical solution is to sell but since the property values took a hit, the sale may not cover the existing mortgage amount. It's a vicious, vicious cycle.
Farms are shutting down because they can't move their food products like eggs and produce. These farms have been around for years and through multiple generations. Businesses with financial obligations can't wait it out. They can't adapt to this type of situation where you're going to cut their customer/consumer base in half, if not more. Day care centers will close, small businesses that pitch outdoor tents and entertainment will close because no one is going to throw a party with dozens of people; banquet halls will struggle to survive as a 200, 300 plus person wedding probably won't happen. Summer fairs, carnivals and food truck vendors that relied on their summer business will take a hit. We can sit here and think of business after business that are going to suffer. Even Mom and Pop doctor's offices may not make it and a virtual appointment won't cut it and is a poor substitute for an in-person visit. Airlines, cruise-lines, rental car companies, oil and gas companies will all be affected. It wouldn't surprise me if some of them go bankrupt. Airlines can take out seats but they'd have to charge double, triple or more to break even so many folks just won't fly because it won't be cost effective. So many sectors of society will be affected.
Now, I've seen the threads on the other board and all the BS back and forth. Quite frankly, people that discuss small businesses as if they can survive in this boondoggle don't know a damn thing about small business. Banks may defer mortgages for a couple of months but that bill is still going to come due. Property taxes, school taxes, local taxes.....they will not be forgiven and the tax man will want his money and doesn't give two shits that a business owner can't pay it. I could go on and on......
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for this one