Texas restaurants see mixed post-coronavirus results since partially reopening dining rooms
About 26 percent of full-service restaurants reported having slow traffic
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, argues there is both psychology and politics behind why Democrat and Republican-run states seem to be responding to the coronavirus differently.
Restaurants in Texas are trying to get back into the swing of things in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, but for some, customer traffic has remained relatively slow, according to a survey by the Texas Restaurant Association, which tracked the status of with restaurants in May.
Nearly 28 percent of full-service restaurants have had steady traffic throughout May, roughly 26 percent of full-service restaurants reported having slow traffic with nearly 14 percent seeing very slow traffic, according to a survey of over 500 eateries on May 26.
Comparatively, more than 10 percent said they were busier than expected.
TEXAS RESTAURANT REOPENS AMID CORONAVIRUS TO THREE-HOUR WAITS
Visitors to the River Walk pass a restaurant that has reopened in San Antonio, Wednesday, May 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
As of June 3, Gov. Greg Abbott allowed bars and similar establishments to increase their capacity to 50 percent as long as patrons are seated. Restaurants were also given the green light to expand their table size from six to ten people. This comes just a month after Texas' economy, which would be among the largest in the world if it were an independent country, began to reopen, allowing restaurants, retailers, movie theaters and malls to start letting customers trickle into their establishments once again.
By Friday, restaurants will be able to expand their occupancy levels to 75 percent.
Of the restaurants surveyed at the end of May, nearly 30 percent indicated that all of their establishments were reopened to some capacity while more than 16 percent indicated that a significant portion of their locations reopened to some capacity, the findings show.
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But it hasn't been business as usual.
Texas operators overall saw a 54 percent decline in sales over the first two weeks in May compared to the same time period a year prior, according to TRA's report.
However, 48 percent say their sales increased during the last two weeks in April to the first two weeks in May.
Roughly 80 percent of operators who laid off or furloughed workers during the shutdowns implemented to stem the spread of the virus were able to rehire some at the end of May. Sixty-eight percent say they plan to add more employees to payroll throughout June.