WASHINGTON • It was supposed to be a happy time for Will, a musician in the Washington area. He was planning a wedding reception at a local restaurant.
Instead, he had to cancel the party due to the coronavirus crisis.
And, despite a few misgivings, he has also decided to ask the restaurant for a complete refund right away – in case the pandemic forces the eatery to shut its doors forever.
"My original plan was just to save the money to credit and to have a big party there in the future," the 47-year-old said, who asked that his last name not be used.
But then, he lost his job at a music store. And of course, he can no longer perform in restaurants and bars because they are all closed for the foreseeable future.
"We're just too worried about them shutting down the business and not getting the money back," he said.
The restaurant industry has been one of the hardest-hit since local governments across the United States started ordering residents to stay at home as much as possible to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Many Americans have launched appeals to help their local restaurants, which are either closed or offering only takeaway while the country rides out the crisis.
Such help could come in the form of buying gift cards, which are a "much-needed revenue source during the pandemic disruption," according to the US National Restaurant Association.
"In the best of times, restaurants operate on razor-thin margins, typically 3 to 6 per cent, and 90 per cent are small businesses with less than 50 employees," said Mr Sean Kennedy, the association's executive vice-president of public affairs.
A KEY U.S. SECTOR[hhmc]
Of course, a few gift cards are not going to save the sector, a vital one in the world's largest economy.
It is the country's second-biggest employer, behind only the healthcare sector.
There are more than one million bars, restaurants and fast-food outlets across the US.
Before the coronavirus crisis took hold, the National Restaurant Association had said it was expecting sales of nearly US$900 billion (S$1.3 trillion) this year.
Now, it says the industry could lose at least US$225 billion – and five million to seven million jobs – over the next three months. There are no guarantees those jobs would be restored after the crisis.
So far, 40 of the 50 US states have ordered restaurants to shut their doors or severely curtail their activities. For many, their survival is on the line.
A survey carried out by the restaurant association among 4,000 places of business and released on Wednesday showed that 3 per cent were forced to close for good.
Another 11 per cent said they would have to do so in the next month.
Restaurant owners have asked for US$455 billion in government aid, including a US$100-billion emergency fund, US$130 billion to pay unemployment benefits and US$45 billion in loans.
'NO NEST EGG'[hhmc]
Since last week, two petitions have been circulating – and gaining hundreds of thousands of signatures – to ask the local authorities for relief, including waived payroll taxes and rent abatement.
"Just as many individuals live from pay cheque to pay cheque, so too do restaurants and bars. There's no nest egg," says the Save America's Restaurants petition signed by more than 330,000 people, including a number of celebrity chefs, as of Thursday.
"We are on the brink of extinction," it warns.
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