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Yikes! Yelp says 60% of restaurant Covid-19 closures are permanent
By Jay Croft, CNN
Updated 2:26 PM ET, Sat July 25, 2020
A pedestrian walks by a closed eatery in San Francisco in March.
(CNN)A new national survey spells more bad news for the restaurant industry.
Sixty percent of restaurants that shut down during the pandemic are now closed for good, says the report from Yelp, the online service that provides crowd-sourced reviews.
"The restaurant industry now reflects the highest total business closures, recently surpassing retail," Yelp says.
Many have tried to adapt with online ordering, curbside pickup and home delivery.
As of July 10, Yelp found 26,160 total restaurant closures, an increase of 2,179 since June 15.
Of all the closed restaurants in July, 15,770 have permanently closed (60%), accounting for 2,956 more permanent closures, Yelp says. That's a 23% increase since June 15.
Emily Catalon runs GoodFoodPittsburgh.com and has been following opening and closing trends there.
"It is on the brink of devastation, honestly," she told affiliate KDKA.
But the restaurant business is notoriously difficult in ordinary times, too -- with high competition and low profit margins, says Caleb Spivak, whose What Now Media Group covers retail and restaurants via WhatNowAtlanta.com and WhatNowLosAngeles.com.
"It's still too early to say for some of them why they permanently closed," Spivak told CNN. "A lot of these restaurants were already struggling."
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