A Michigan restaurant owner says the industry faces a lost decade from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s ban on indoor dining for restaurants and bars.
“In my opinion, if this [ban] goes till the end of the year, I think the effects to the industry will take a decade to recover,” said Jeremy Sasson, founder and CEO of Heirloom Hospitality Group, a restaurant and hospitality company located in Detroit. Sasson started the business in 2010 after graduating from the University of Miami in 2007.
“The longer this goes, the more likely it is the industry will be ripped apart by the fact that the people who have worked in it for many, many years are going to have to get a job elsewhere,” he added.
One issue prompting restaurant workers who are facing layoffs to find jobs outside their desired industry is the fact that extended unemployment benefits will end at the end of the year, and Congress has yet to show signs that additional relief will be provided to individuals and businesses.
“I think that aid is unequivocally needed, but if it comes too late, staff may not come back,” Sasson said.
The lack of aid from the federal government will also test Sasson’s resources.
“We’ll have to figure out how to buy as much time as possible and leverage money if it’s available. We will lean on every arm of our business to try and figure out how to pay our bills,” he said.
The ban, which was announced Sunday and took effect Wednesday, is currently set for three weeks, but Sasson thinks it will go longer than that because the ruling does not state establishments can automatically reopen after it ends. Instead, a review is required to see if reopening is advisable.
“It’s not three weeks and then open; it’s three weeks with a review,” he said, adding, “we’re not anticipating this being three weeks only.”
The ban also comes just as restaurants and bars ramp up for the holidays, the industry’s busiest season. Many establishments depend on the revenue generated between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day to survive January, February, and March, when fewer people dine out.
“If you’re not limping already [by the ban during the holidays], you’re laying down dead by [March],” Sasson said.
He is also frustrated that his industry was singled out for the ban.
“The lights are on in retail stores. The lights are mostly on in office buildings. The lights are off in restaurants,” he said, adding, “it is a disproportionate attempt to break an industry.”
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services initiated the ban, which oversees food services such as restaurants and bars. Sasson argues his sector was targeted for the ban because it is one of the largest industries that the agency oversees.
“If you want to make the biggest impact, well, close food services, but we’re not the biggest impact to those that are contracting the virus,” he said.
The COVID-19 Outbreak Investigation data tracked by the state’s health department attributes approximately 4.3% of all outbreaks to restaurants statewide, according to the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association, which on Tuesday filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Michigan that argues the ban unfairly targets restaurants and bars. Sasson is a part of this lawsuit.
The ruling allows restaurants to provide carryout and delivery services, as well as outdoor dining.
Sasson owns three restaurants in and around the Detroit area. Two are temporarily closed by the ban because the food they offer would not travel well via delivery. For the third, the establishment is exploring carryout services as outdoor dining is not an option in Michigan this time of year.
“It’s 30 to 40 degrees, or less, so outdoor dining is not a viable option for us,” he said, adding that “nice weather is a green as cash and as green as federal support if you have that as an option.”
