In the first 22 days of March, the restaurant industry in the US lost $25 billion in sales and over three million jobs.
Roughly 30,000 restaurants have already closed for good across the country, with more than 110,000 expected to shutter in the next month, according to estimates by the National Restaurant Association.
Here in Durango, restaurants are the essential lifeblood of our community, not just providing unique culinary experiences and employing thousands across the region, but the tax base, the economic footprint and, of course, the fulfillment of the basic human need for connection and social relations.
Restaurants get by in the smallest of revenue windows; a bad season can easily be a deathblow. The fate of the restaurant industry is beyond uncertain, the current model is exorbitantly unsustainable, lives will be ruined, time is running out. The government is not going to save them.
It is up to us. We all know how many nonprofits exist here, but have you ever stopped to think how much our local restaurants support the causes we care about?
That’s right, restaurants are constantly hit up for donations. And even though the bottom line is so very thin, they support their community, because it’s the right thing to do.
Now is the time to rally behind these wonderful people we are blessed to call our friends and neighbors. Order takeout, buy gift certificates, just do something ... or it is very likely we will see several of our favorite local eateries never open again.
Heath RoweDurango
