If people don’t go to the office, then all the infrastructure built to support employees ceases to be viable.
Remote and hybrid work is reshaping the city’s economy, and restaurants are among the businesses feeling the impact most acutely.
“As remote or hybrid work continues to become popular, office attendance has declined. Less personal work can increase office vacancy rates and reduce foot traffic to other businesses located in office-dense areas,” according to Federal Reserve statistics.
That shift first played out near my old office, where the attached hotel’s Starbucks closed after the pandemic.
For businesses, it’s death by a thousand paper cuts. This is not the loss of any one customer, but thousands of them visit less often.
Restaurants, coffee shops, and bars have felt the pinch from the hybrid work situation.
“Even if you’re busy on Wednesday and Thursday, your Monday and Friday can be very slow,” Andrew Riggi, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, told CNBC. “If someone walked into a restaurant on a Thursday afternoon or around dinner time, they might say, ‘Wow, that restaurant is packed, they’re very busy,’ but it’s not like that every day.”
That’s not unique to New York.
“In cities like New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, the three-day individual work week poses a challenge for hospitality businesses. Fewer workers in offices on Mondays and Fridays — which were their strongest sales days for some businesses — have forced many businesses to change work schedules or launch initiatives to draw customers at the beginning and end of the week,” CNBC reported.
This shift in consumer behavior has forced an iconic Boston market to close its doors forever.
Food halls have become a growing trend in tourist areas, driven by the Covid shutdown of buffets. In Las Vegas, where almost every hotel on the Strip used to have buffets, only a handful remain, and more food halls have opened.
A modern take on mall food courts, food halls offer multiple restaurants under one roof. Some even offer ordering via QR code, making it easy to order food from multiple restaurants.
The concept has also been adopted as a way to serve workers in cities and Time Out Market, one of the most famous food halls located near Fenway Park, has decided to close its doors.
“After the pandemic, we have seen the Boston market recover and grow, and we have focused on initiatives for further growth; however, footfall to date has been inconsistent in the region due to ongoing hybrid operations and, in addition, operating costs have increased – all of which consistently inhibit profitability,” Michael Marley, CEO of OutMarket, said in a statement.
