The top line of any story like this needs to be the fact that we got very lucky last week. Again. As we entered Labor Day weekend, Hurricane Dorian had his eye on us. It was not a good feeling. You just kind of knew that once schools closed on Tuesday we were looking at a lost week. At that point, it was up to Mother Nature and the power of prayer to do their thing.
Thankfully, we did well in the weather department. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take a direct hit to cause a lot of local businesses, including restaurants, to lose lots of money.
“I hate this (beep)” one restaurant owner told me. Clearly frustrated by having to prepare for something that didn’t happen yet again. He estimates he lost a minimum of $50,000 in revenue.
When you keep in mind that Labor Day weekend-which usually means a bump in business around here-was largely a washout, that only compounded an already difficult situation.
All of us were watching The Weather Channel live from River Street last weekend. All of us knew it was pretty much a ghost town by Sunday. And with good reason.
Most of the restaurant owners I spoke with didn’t want to get into numbers. They rarely do. Certainly not be quoted on them. It wasn’t, however, uncommon to hear about lost revenue in the $15-20,000 or more range. When you operate on tiny margins like so many do, that’s a lot of dollars.
“We are off 50% for the month of September already” says Brian Huskey, Co-owner at the Gaslight Group which includes B Matthew’s Eatery and The 5 Spot. “That’s revenue that is gone. You can’t make it up.”
Once the airplane takes off with empty seats, you never get that revenue back, I suppose.
“A massage therapist or a hair stylist can work extra hours if they want to salvage their situation, with us it’s gone.” Huskey says.
Insurance claim?
“Nope. Nothing happened.” Huskey says.
Those numbers add up. When you get hurricane scares year after year, the frustration can mount for them just like it does for the rest of us in the business community.
I actually saw one contractor post on social media that he was counting on some hurricane-related roof damage to make a little money this month. But with the brunt of Dorian staying away, he was now in dire straits financially. Kind of sick and twisted, but I get it.
Still, not everyone closed. Some did what they could considering staffing was a challenge because of evacuations, as were deliveries.
Atlantic was thriving last Tuesday night. They were on an hour wait at one point for dinner. Same was the case at The Grey’s Diner Bar. Within 45 minutes of opening for lunch on Wednesday, they too had a full house.
I popped in at The Fat Radish Wednesday afternoon. They had a vibrant crowd there. I was told Tuesday night, with limited help in the kitchen they turned out 65 dinners. Which is great for any Tuesday, really.
By the way, the carbonara at The Fat Radish is outstanding. As is Brunch, which we enjoyed Sunday. It’s a wonderful addition to the food scene here.
So what exactly can we do about it besides maybe eat out a little more than normal? Well, nothing really. Maybe keep in mind that a lot of these restaurants get squeezed every year whenever a storm decides to threaten our coastline.
A lot of the more established restaurants set their budgets based on what their revenue was last year during the same week. Even the same day. So when the return of SCAD students is pushed back a week as it was this time, these eateries feel it. Sometimes dramatically.
Just some food for thought going into this full week back to work. If you can afford it, go have that lunch. Maybe stop off for a bite after work this week.
And at the same time, keep in mind that we’ve still got nearly 2 full months left in 2019 hurricane season.
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