Chinese restaurant owners in the US being hit by both the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing protests estimate that their businesses will take at least half a year to return to previous levels once current troubles pass.
Trouble in New York
Liu Ying, 38, owner of a Chinese restaurant in New York City’s Manhattan Chinatown, told the Global Times on Tuesday that her restaurant, which can seat 120 customers, closed in mid-March.
Since then, she has spent each day in her home in the Chinatown neighborhood.
Her restaurant isn’t the only one affected; all restaurants in the area have closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
The shutdown has been quite a burden, as Liu has to feed her family of four while still struggling to find a way to pay the restaurant’s monthly rent of $13,000.
Every two weeks, Liu goes out to shop for life necessities. Meanwhile, her son and daughter have been taking online courses every day.
Asked to provide an optimistic estimate, Liu said that it may take at least half a year for her business to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Liu has been able to see the recent protests from her two-story house and that nearby riots involving shootings have her feeling terrified.
Although her restaurant is shut down, costs such as employee’s insurance run her around $2,000 a day
Liu said that these days have been the toughest time for her since she migrated to the US 11 years ago from Fuzhou, East China’s Fujian Province.
She noted that even if she could open her restaurant right now, under current conditions she wouldn’t be able to turn a profit due to the high operating costs.
“The everyday cost is so high that even if we take on delivery orders, revenue still won’t cover our costs. There is no other option but to wait until everything passes,” Liu said. “Chinatown is almost empty and we can’t afford to pay my 10 staff members. We dare not go out and we can’t sleep well due to the riots, which make things worse.”
Many luxury shops have been robbed during the riots, she added.
Liu said she is keen to hear about a vaccine for the coronavirus, which hopefully will help return her life to normal.
Struggling in Orlando
Over in Orlando, Zhang Jianhang’s restaurant business has plunged to a 10-year low.
In an interview with the Global Times on Thursday, he said that his restaurant is just a 10-minute drive from the Orlando International Airport and a 25-minute drive from downtown. However, since the outbreak of COVID-19, revenue has dropped by two thirds.
“Since the nearby Walt Disney World closed on March 14, my restaurant has been struggling, and the curfew due to the ongoing protests is another strike,” Zhang said.
His restaurant closes at 9 pm each night and he has been forced to reduce staff from 12 to eight, three of which are members of his family.
“I can’t sleep at night because I’m anxious about the situation. Business has hit rock bottom compared with my revenue from 2015 to 2018, when I had 15 employees,” he said.
His noted that his daily revenue has fallen from more than $3,000 to $1,700.
“On my worst day in April, I only earned $1,000, hardly make the ends meet,” he said.
Over the past decade, Zhang’s restaurant has gained many regular customers as well as tourists from China. However with the US announcement that Chinese airlines will be blocked from flying to the US starting from June 16, he becomes more concerned than ever.
While the curfew has shortened his business hours, Zhang said he would rather clench his teeth and keep the business running than shut it down.
“I have to keep my regular customers, otherwise it might become even more difficult to recover,” Zhang said.
He said that some of his peers had closed their businesses due to the pandemic and riots.
His estimate for recovery was not as optimistic as Liu’s, since it depends on many factors. “It might be a lot to ask to expect the riots to end, US-China airlines to return to flying as before and for there to be no more trade war, so that expos, trade and tourism can resume. But only then can my restaurant recover,” he noted.
Shops in Manhattan Chinatown in New York remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic on April 12. Photo: VCG
