The latest data from Yelp shows that business closures across the country are increasing thanks to shut-down orders & restrictions.
Yelp reported in its September Local Economic Impact Report that:
“as of August 31, 163,735 total U.S. businesses on Yelp have closed since the beginning of the pandemic (observed as March 1), a 23% increase since July 10. In the wake of COVID-19 cases increasing and local restrictions continuing to change in many states we’re seeing both permanent and temporary closures rise across the nation, with 60% of those closed businesses not reopening (97,966 permanently closed).”
Of course restaurant are the hardest hit as they company points out:
“...an increasing number of closures – totalling 32,109 closures as of August 31, with 19,590 of these business closures indicated to be permanent (61%). Breakfast and brunch restaurants, burger joints, sandwich shops, dessert places and Mexican restaurants are among the types of restaurants with the highest rate of business closures. Foods that work well for delivery and takeout have been able to keep their closure rates lower than others, including pizza places, delis, food trucks, bakeries and coffee shops.
Meanwhile, bars and nightlife, an industry 6X smaller than restaurants, has endured an especially high closure rate, with an increasing percentage of closures being permanent. As of the end of August there were 6,451 total business closures, of which 3,499 were permanently closed (54%). The share of permanent closures within bars and nightlife have increased by 10% since our Economic Average Report in July."