Jimmyz Hibachi of Pawleys Island will close their doors on Thursday, December 30th as a result of Covid labor shortages
Owners of the establishment posted the news to Facebook on December 28th.
Overall, Pawleys Island has adjusted well to the pandemic. However, economic casualties still continue.
As far back as July 2020, Yelp published:
As of July 10, 2020, according to Yelp’s Q2 Economic Average Report there have been 26,160 total restaurant shuttered since the arrival of COVID-19, an increase of 2,179 from June 15. Of those closed, 15,770 permanently shut down, or 60 percent.
The figure accounts for 2,956 additional permanent closures (up 23 percent) from the middle of June. Meanwhile, bars and nightlife—a sector six times smaller than restaurants—endured an even steeper rate, with 5,454 total business closures, 2,429 (44 percent) of which are permanent.
Yelp’s data is not necessarily reflective of the entire industry or exact to a tee. The data is signaled by a business owner marking their business as closed, including changing its hours or through a COVID-19 banner on the Yelp page. Closure counts are an estimate of the businesses most impacted, Yelp said, with many others not counted because they remain open with curtailed hours and staffing, or because they have not yet updated pages to reflect closures.
Additionally, Yelp counts closures vetted by an internal team or updated directly by a business owner. Restaurants can also set automatic reopening dates on Yelp, which are counted as reopenings.
So the reality is, the number is likely even higher on a nationwide scale. In turn, the percentage of restaurants permanently closed is probably lower as part of the full figure.
That same Yelp data in Q3 2021 shows:
Yelp data for Q3 2021 points to a growing adaptability among local businesses operating under “new normal” conditions due to the pandemic. The vast majority of businesses that experienced a temporary closure during the pandemic have reopened. New business openings and consumer interest increases reflect consumer demand for leisure activities upended by early pandemic restrictions.
Those unable to adapt to the high cost of ongoing supply and labor shortages are closing permanently.