Smaller businesses taking major hit during COVID-19 pandemic
It’s been nearly a month since Ohio governor Mike DeWine banned mass gatherings of more than 100 people. Since then, that number has decreased to less than 10 people allowed in one building.
The result of this order has had a major impact on the current state of the economy, as well as the future of the economy. But it’s also affected thousands of smaller businesses throughout the state of Ohio.
Local restaurants have taken the biggest hit, however, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these restaurants have had to resume business by selling food through carryout or delivery.
The problem, however, is a majority of these smaller restaurants are significantly down in sales still, making it difficult to continue keeping doors open.
Nick Dadich, owner of Delanie’s Grille, which is located on west avenue just off the Tallmadge circle, has struggled to keep doors open himself.
Dadich says food sales are down 70 percent, while beverage sales are down 100 percent, which has significantly hurt his business over the last month.
“Most restaurants operate on a margin of five to ten percent profit. So, if you order a burger and fries and your sitting there, chances are I’ve made 50 cents to a dollar off that meal,” Dadich said. “What’s killing us is that if you order an iced tea, I also make another dollar on that iced tea, or two dollars on a beer, or 3 dollars on a cocktail.”
These issues have resulted in Dadich making major changes to his business, such as cutting down staff to only two paid employees a day, turning off the cable and internet, and even going as far as operating with minimal lighting and no heat or air conditioning.
Dadich has also limited the scope of his menu, which is very limited to what his regular-sized menu would be. This change has brought up the idea of selling “family style” meals for carryout and delivery.
“A lot of them are rice and pasta based, but then topped with a good protein and vegetables,” Dadich said.
Delanie’s Grille isn’t the only place resorting to family-styled meals.
Ravenna’s own Double R BBQ, which is owned by Susan Shomette, has resorted to selling “family-sized” meals for purchase.
“One of our specials is called the 28-dollar meal deal, consists of a pound of meat, two large side dishes, four pieces of cornbread and a pint of ice cream,” Shomette said. “The 52-dollar meal deal is larger for larger groups. So, its two pounds of meat, three large sides, six pieces of cornbread and a quart of ice cream.”
These meals have gone over very well, even going as far as selling a whole brisket for a discounted price. Shomette has sold six so far, as of April 11.
Shomette’s restaurant is a newer one, which started back in December of 2019, making this time very challenging for her to make certain changes.
“One of the challenges with our drive-through window is, when all of this started happening, we were working on replacing the old, antiquated drive through with a digital, electronic arrangement with a large canopy,” Shomette said. “We’ve had trouble because we haven’t been able to find work men because they’ve been off due to the virus.”
The company that Shomette contracted with to install these changes is based out of New York, which is one of the major hot spots for COVID-19 cases and deaths. Meaning no work can be done until the bans are lifted, and the virus slows its course.
Because these businesses can’t afford to hold a full staff, this has resulted in a record-number of layoffs, both in the state of Ohio, as well as the United States in general.
Owner of Rootstown’s Firehouse Grille & Pub Josh Baglia has had to lay off every single worker he previously had.
“Pretty much, the whole staff has been laid off. Everything right now is all voluntary,” Baglia said. “Everyone who is working here and who’s been working here from the day one, is just working for tips. There’s no hourly rate or nothing, it’s just all tips.”
This has resulted in Baglia’s family being the only people able to really help the restaurant
“What we have, honestly, is we have my children working and helping out voluntary, and everybody, as a family, we’re all here as a family voluntarily working just to keep the doors open,” Baglia said.
It was just two weeks ago that unemployment claims reached 3.3 million. Now, that number has doubled.
The current state of unemployment in the U.S. is the highest it’s been since 1948, resulting in over 6.6 million people seeking unemployment, according to an article from mercury news.
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The article also says 16.6 million people have made unemployment claims in the past 3 weeks and is estimating that over 20 million people may lose their jobs over the next month. The numbers are growing every day.