Charleston Restaurant Report APRIL 2021
ON THE MENU
1. Local Restaurant Scene -- PAYING IT FORWARD TO HELP F&B WORKERS
2. Restaurant Openings, Closings + Coming Soon Lists!
3. National Restaurant Scene – DEBUNKING THE MYTH OF HIGH RESTAURANT START-UP CLOSURE RATES
4. CORONAVIRUS: MEASURING THE DAMAGE -- MORE THAN 79,000 U.S. RESTAURANT CLOSINGS SINCE MARCH 2020
LOCAL RESTAURANT SCENE
PAYING IT FORWARD TO HELP F&B WORKERS
Local non-profit organization Pay It Forward Charleston was born out of the 2020 pandemic by F&B workers looking to assist others in their industry who lost F&B jobs. What started as a means to provide groceries to F&B folks in need has grown into an organization that intends to raise money and provide $100,000 in relief this year to eligible F&B workers on a case-by-case basis via emergency grants. Read more about it in Charleston City Paper.
The organization's founder, Michael Shemtov, also recently partnered with a local doctor's group to setup a covid vaccine clinic specifically for F&B workers to receive shots at The Workshop on March 30th. Four hundred thirty appointments were filled. Get more info from Live 5 WCSC News....
RESTAURANT OPENINGS, CLOSINGS + COMING SOON!
Openings + Closings list reflects 1st Quarter 2021 market activity (January - March):
OPENINGS --
Azul Mexicana (James Island)
Bodega Todo (Downtown -- former Semilla)
Carolina Crab House (Summerville -- former Graze)
Chasing Sage (Downtown)
Chipotle (West Ashley)
Coterie (Downtown -- former Pane e Vino)
Dos Taqueria (Downtown -- former Eastide Bagel)
HD Bar & Grill (Summerville -- former Side Pocket)
Kingstide (Daniel Island)
La'Son Cafe (Summerville)
Laurel Charleston (Downtown -- former Nimbo Pizza)
Mixson Burgers & Brew (North Charleston -- former Holy Cow Burgers & Brew)
Maya Del Sol (North Charleston)
Old Li's (West Ashley -- former The Cracked Egg)
Pink Bellies (Downtown)
The Dime (Daniel Island)
Tideland Brewing (North Charleston -- former Holy City Brewing)
Ty's Roadside Coastal Kitchen (Mount Pleasant -- former Smoke BBQ)
CLOSINGS --
Basil (Downtown)
Eastside Bagel (Downtown)
Gypsy Pantry (Downtown)
Jim N' Nicks Bar-B-Q (Mount Pleasant)
The Macintosh (Downtown)
Tabbuli (Downtown)
COMING SOON --
Covid-19 has severely impacted dozens of restaurant projects in development. My tracking list of "coming soon" restaurants that are expected to open in the coming months, as of late March, has swelled to at least 60 restaurant projects in some phase of development in the Charleston area. I'm seeing optimism across the local restaurant industry. Accurately forecasting opening dates in the Covid era is nearly impossible, however, the good news is there are many exciting projects on the way.
NATIONAL RESTAURANT SCENE
DEBUNKING THE MYTH OF HIGH RESTAURANT START-UP CLOSURE RATES
When it comes to restaurant closures, conventional wisdom would have you believe that most (more than 50%) restaurants close in their first year of operation. That's actually pretty far from the truth. Doing some digging on the topic, I found a 2017 Forbes Magazine article that references a 2014 academic study on early restaurant closure. While somewhat dated, the study found that the real closure rate for restaurants in their first year of operations was around 17%. If the data holds true, that stat places restaurants on par with insurance agencies and lower than automotive garages (19%) and real estate agencies (21%) in regard to first year closure. For a future issue of the Restaurant Report, I may do a deep-dive into my local restaurant openings/closings archive to see if our market reflects a similar early closure percentage. The reasons for early closure can vary widely, however, the article does make note that in many cases closure doesn't necessarily equate with failure. Start-up restaurant owners can have a money-making venture and become ill or choose to sell or shutdown for a number of reasons. You may want to take some of this data with you to the bank to help get your next restaurant start-up loan. Perhaps your new restaurant venture is not as risky as the bank might think... Read the Forbes article.
CORONAVIRUS: MEASURING THE DAMAGE
MORE THAN 79,000 U.S. RESTAURANT CLOSINGS SINCE MARCH 2020
Since the Covid pandemic shutdowns began last March,10.2% of all U.S. restaurants have permanently closed, according to Datassential research. The stats include all types of restaurants and food trucks. Large chains (over 500 units) and independents fared better than small chains. Food trucks had the highest percentage of closures at more than 22%.Quick-service concepts fared best with closings just shy of 10%. Burger concepts had the lowest percentage of closures. Delaware said goodbye to 8.2% of its restaurants, the lowest rate of any state. Washington D.C. had the highest closure rate at 14.9%. Check out the charts + data in Nation's Restaurant News....