- Junior’s Cheesecake owner Alan Rosen told CNBC that restaurants forced to shut down a second time may not be able to reopen
- Restaurants take huge financial hit when they purchase food and are unable to sell it
- Some states roll back eat-in service as COVID-19 counts rise
Restaurants that survived the initial shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic may not be able to weather a second round of closures, warned Junior’s Cheesecake owner Alan Rosen during an interview with CNBC. Rosen, whose family-owned business has three locations in New York City and one in Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, said eateries purchase large quantities of food but are forced to discard it if the state orders restaurants to close.
Governors in states with rising coronavirus counts have paused or rolled back efforts to reopen businesses, reviving restrictions such as capacity limits or bans on dine-in service. The spike in COVID-19 cases elsewhere in the country has also caused other states to proceed more cautiously with their own reopening efforts, pausing efforts to resume dine-in service.
Junior’s Cheesecake has been able to add to its payroll after reopening its Brooklyn location for takeout. He says he has also been using Paycheck Protection Program funds cautiously to ensure that workers can be employed safely and for a sustained period.
