This year has made turning a profit for Columbia’s bars and restaurants almost impossible. Business owners say their revenues have plummeted because of coronavirus regulations and reduced demand.
The football season is vital for local bars and restaurants. It brings in consumers from across the state and even country, allowing an opportunity to pack their establishments. The prosperous football season allows these businesses to survive through the spring. But the revenue has nosedived this season because of the pandemic.
Nickie Davis is the Director of the Downtown Community Improvement District. She said her organization’s polling shows most of bars and restaurants’ revenues are down 80% compared to previous years.
“There is very little hope; there is no real end in sight,” Davis said. “So yeah, we are unfortunately going to see many more businesses drop off before this is over.”
And possible solutions to keeping them open could be running out.
Matt McGee is the owner of On the Rocks, a night bar in downtown Columbia. He said proposed solutions like forgivable loans, rent forgiveness and stimulus packages are band-aids for a larger problem.
“A forgivable loan or grant or something like that helps to get you through a little bit, but it doesn’t really solve the problem you know two months, three months down the road,” McGee said. “And so, since we’ve been in the pandemic for nine months now, I would argue that most businesses are at their limits or getting pretty close to it. ”
Currently, Columbia bars and restaurants serving alcohol are required to close at 10:30 p.m. This health order expires Dec. 22. Since Sept. 18, bars and restaurants serving alcohol have been required to close by 10:30 p.m. There were also two weeks from August 28- Sept. 18 where bars and restaurants were required to stop serving alcohol at 9:00 p.m. and close by 10:00 p.m.
Davis said there were many bar and restaurant owners upset at the 9:00 alcohol curfew, so they met with the local health officials to advocate for extending the alcohol serving time. Even after the serving time and closing time were extended to 10:30 p.m., McGee said it made little difference.
“To be honest, giving us the time until 10:30 wasn’t really much of a functional change,” McGee said. “I mean the vast majority of business, atleast for our business and for a number of others, even some of the restaurants, most of business comes between 10 p.m., 11 p.m. and 12 a.m.”
Under this 10:30 p.m. requirement, McGee said his bar’s revenues were down 70% in October compared to previous years. McGee said extending the time allowed for bars and restaurants to be open is the only long-term solution to allow bars and restaurants to bounce back.
McGee said restaurants have some ability to adjust their services to the pandemic by offering curbside and takeout options for customers. But since his business doesn’t offer food, he said his business depends on having customers in his bar for as late as possible.
The coronavirus vaccine arrived in Missouri this week. But Davis said even as the vaccine arrives for Missourians, it could be months before anyone feels confident coming out to local businesses.
Without additional federal or state stimulus to support local bars and restaurants, Davis said many of these businesses could close by early January
