Del. Restaurant Association: 30% of small businesses could permanently close

DELAWARE – In Delaware, some retail store owners tell 47 ABC business has been booming since they’ve been able to reopen.

“I think they’ve been going pretty good, I think people have been behaving, and I think things are picking up nicely,” Carol Ann Dryer, the owner of Odysea, said. “Obviously it’s not as busy as normal, but it’s still June, so I’m being positive,” she added.

But it’s been a different story for small restaurants in the state, as Carrie Leishman, the President of the Delaware Restaurant Assocation, says new data that her organization recently released shows they’ve taken a massive hit during the pandemic.

“We found out that Delaware has lost more restaurant jobs than any other job in the country, outside of New York and Vermont,” Leishman said.

Some of the losses so major, that Leishman says some small restaurants in the state may close their doors permanently because of the pandemic.

“We are looking at data that shows when this is all said and done, we could permanently lose 20-30% of our small business,” she said.

To help the struggling businesses, Leishman says Governor John Carney and elected officials could re-evaluate some restrictions that have been put in place.

“I think the biggest challenge getting in the way between restaurants and survival is really the unnecessary stringent restrictions that have been placed on the restaurant industry as they try to reopen,” Leishman said.

Dryer, on the other hand, says she’s just hopeful out-of-state tourists coming to visit will bring even more business.

“I think the hotels filling up, and the rentals, and that’s going to make a huge impact,” Dryer said.

Leishman adds that 75% of the small restaurants that they spoke to say they’ll be operating at “a severe financial loss for the next six months.”