Restaurants reel from new COVID restrictions
Thursday’s announcement by Gov. Tom Wolf regarding new restrictions on bars and restaurants has been a stomach punch to an industry still reeling from the effects of a year’s worth of COVID-19-related mandates.
The new restrictions, which went into effect Saturday morning, suspend all indoor dining, effectively close many struggling businesses as temperatures dip below freezing and make outdoor dining unrealistic.
“Restaurants are going to do everything they can to provide safe and warm outside dining during the shutdown, but we feel restaurants have followed all the safety protocols and followed all the measures to protect our employees and guests over the past several months, and we feel this lockdown is excessive and too restrictive on just our industry,” said Dave Magrogan, CEO of Harvest Seasonal Grille and Wine Bar in Glen Mills. “Our industry has been singled out again and the contact tracing does not confirm what the governor is doing. The contact tracing has shown very little COVID spread related to restaurants and that’s because restaurants have followed the rules and followed the guidelines.”
Magrogan said while his business has added tents and heaters, he expects business to drop to 10-15 percent of last year’s sales with the new rules. He said during the summer they were able to do about 60 percent of regular business, higher with outdoor dining on nice days, while October sales were 4050 percent of normal. After Wolf cut back dining before Thanksgiving, the restaurant saw sales drop to 30 percent.
“We’re trying to adapt and to keep as many people em
ployed as possible. We have some wonderful and loyal guests and we’re going to try to take care of them as they take good care of us,” Magrogan said.
He feels Wolf is making arbitrary decisions. “There has been this language of fear relating to restaurants. He hasn’t told someone to be scared to walk into a Wawa and the creamers, and the touchscreen and the coffee. But he has convinced you to be scared to sit in a restaurant 10 feet away from any other guest.” Margrogan claimed. “It’s not sustainable to even pay rent for a month. We’ll pay our people and try to work with our landlord.”
“We understand the virus is real and it is important to protect the health of our employees, important to protect the health of our guests. Restaurants have been doing that. Restaurants are being unfairly targeted in this latest round of shutdowns.”
Kevin Farrell, owner of Stingers in Secane and Stingers Waterfront at the Ridley Marina, agrees.
“It’s heart-breaking to
have to lay off your employees right before Christmas. He gives us no notice - 48 hours - at that point people have already ordered food and beer and wine [from their suppliers]. There is no clear plan. We have abided by all the mandates,” said Farrell. “We don’t own our own restaurants. We feel the governor owns our restaurants and he’s making the calls for us and that’s over-reaching.”
Farrell feels there is a lack a plan moving forward. Cares Act money went to balance the state budget.
Farrell said at the Ridley location, they have a porch area with eight tables so they will keep that open, but they will have to lay off the majority of staff.
The Stingers on the Waterfront has been 40 percent off past years’ business while his Secane location is 60 percent off.
“Our margins are very small in restaurants to make a profit. This is just another blow. We’re confident we’ll survive it but many won’t,” Farrell said. “We would just like to see some level of con
sistency if they are going to close us down. Have some plan to help small businesses - they employ a lot of people. We understand this virus is real, but to have no communication with us - there is no clear plan. We all know there has been a stimulus plan sitting in Congress for God knows how many months. The first stimulus package was to get us through six weeks; we’re ten months into this!
“The language coming out of Gov. Wolf’s office - it’s all about restaurants and bars [causing spread]. That’s just not true. People are catching it all over the place. When you go out on Black Friday, the malls are packed and the food courts are packed. There is no consistency. We can’t just target one industry and let other industries go unaffected - that’s not governing your people. Let’s come up with a clear plan.”
State Rep. Mike Zabel, D-163 of Upper Darby, whose office represents Secane, said he has been pressing for months to get relief for the hospitality industry. He in
troduced an amendment to a bill that would have driven $100 million from the Cares funds to the hospitality industry specifically.
“I wanted a significant sum of that money to go to small businesses and restaurants. Instead, they decided to use that money to fill budget holes elsewhere,” Zabel said. “I feel for our restaurant owners. Nobody wanted this. It’s tough. It stinks. There is no question they have been the hardest hit by this. It’s service workers who are getting hurt the most, along with restaurant owners and the people who work for them.”
Delaware County Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer said county council has been working with the Chamber of Commerce and the Delco Commerce Center to explore ways to support these targeted business in the short term, and they anticipate more federal relief in the near future.
“The governor’s latest order will help to stem the alarming surge we are currently experiencing, but it also places an increased burden on particular industries, namely our restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues,” she said. “In the end,
we all recognize that equally as important as protecting the health and safety of our residents is ensuring the economic survival and recovery of our small businesses. We are doing everything we can to achieve both.”
Zabel noted he also hears from nurses, doctors and health care professional who are telling him they are being overwhelmed.
“There are no easy answers. Every one is a bad one when it comes to COVID,” said Zabel. “I don’t think there is a good satisfying answer when it comes to managing a pandemic, particularly a surge. I think what you’re seeing right now is an administration trying to do everything it can to avoid a complete shutdown. That’s what they seem to be bending over backwards to do.”
Friday evening, Wolf tweeted, “Even with safety measures in place, COVID makes indoor dining dangerous. It’s not the fault of restaurants and bar owners or their employees. These businesses need and deserve help to weather the pandemic.” He went on to call on the federal government to step up and pass the Restaurants Act.