Report: One-Third of Michigan Restaurants Believe They Will Close in 2021

restaurant
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

About one-third of Michigan restaurants believe they will close for good in 2021, according to a report from the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association (MRLA).

The MRLA report is based on surveys conducted with the American Hotel and Lodging Association and the National Restaurant Association and tracked the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The MRLA says about 5,600 Michigan restaurant operators say it will be unlikely they will be in business within six months, amounting to 33 percent of the state’s restaurants.

The report also found that two-thirds of hotels will only be able to survive for six more months at current revenue and occupancy levels.

More than half of those hotels — 52 percent — fear they will go into foreclosure.

“It is fundamentally clear that the pandemic is decimating the hospitality industry in this state to a degree never seen or even imagined,” MRLA President and CEO Justin Winslow said in a statement.

Winslow is urging leaders in Michigan’s state capitol and in Washington, DC, to pass stimulus so the hospitality industry can stay afloat.

In Michigan, restaurants were forced to halt indoor dining in mid-November, and it is expected restaurants will remain closed in the near future even as other industries start reopening.

 

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