Hard-hit cafes stay cautious as COVID eases
Bagpipes played outside Farley’s café in San Francisco as customers went inside to order their coffee drinks – the first time the café had allowed customers indoors in a year.
It's a happy note after a long struggle. Farley’s café is one of two spots owned by Chris and Amy Hillyard that shut down for the first six weeks of the health crisis.
CHRIS HILLYARD: “Probably a month into the pandemic, I would definitely say our future was in doubt. We just didn't know what was going to happen.”
Reuters has been following the Hillyards since last March when they laid off their entire staff.
They've won six-figure paycheck protection loans to keep their staff on salary and got support from donors such as Golden State Warriors point Guard Steph Curry.
Now, as COVID-19 infections drop sharply in the area and as most his staff get vaccinated, customers are coming back, but so far it's more of a trickle than a wave.
CHRIS HILLYARD: "Here in San Francisco we're in a neighborhood, so sales were about 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels, and then I'd say it's slowly been increasing a little bit each week as the (COVID) case counts have started to drop. Unfortunately, in Oakland, we're about 25 to 30 percent on any given day of the pre-pandemic levels because we rely on a lot of the office workers at that location and they're just not there right now."
Cafes are open, but many are still working from home. Downtowns are still quiet. Some economics professors are calling this a “donut” effect - once-vibrant city centers are hollowing out.
CHRIS HILLYARD: "You know, there's so many spots just like ours that rely on the office workers being there and I think we're gonna all have to just see what happens come fall when there's a little bit more normalcy to life."
They plan to reopen indoor dining in late April and they are expanding elsewhere, opening a Farley's branded location at the San Francisco International Airport next month.
相關影片推薦
- 1:10東港線湧遊客 估暑假首日小琉球登島人數破萬民視影音31,464 次觀看・18 小時前
- 1:07金曲35/孫盛希一塊布搶下紅毯最辣 大哥大忍不住紅毯要求合照Yahoo奇摩娛樂 音樂影音31,510 次觀看・13 小時前
- 1:56中正紀念堂三軍儀隊 最快年底移至自由廣場民視影音5,349 次觀看・17 小時前
- 2:08【金曲35】LULU獨挑主持金曲碰一禁忌 哀號遭到天譴自己也嚇瘋娛樂星聞4,019 次觀看・15 小時前
- 2:01台中彩虹眷村走味?夾雜動漫風 遊客再訪意願低華視影音2,443 次觀看・16 小時前
- 1:57自助餐「鱈魚+2菜」要120元 記者回店買變200元更貴!東森新聞影音34,616 次觀看・14 小時前
- 1:50恐怖! 老翁遭野狗攻擊 頭耳腳多處傷 血留滿地民視影音63,916 次觀看・22 小時前
- 1:4535屆金曲表演 吉那與張秀卿組曲嗨翻、生物股長首度來台民視影音16,419 次觀看・2 小時前
- 4:34華為開發者大會自嗨 鴻蒙星河版HarmonyOS NEXT應用程式少安卓700倍 標榜「一個系統」走蘋果過去的路 中國網友質疑鴻蒙不可能「純血」|全球聊天室 #鏡新聞鏡新聞3,214 次觀看・15 小時前
- 1:11孫安佐轉戰成人平台! 將和陳沂合體SWAG證實了娛樂星聞6,525 次觀看・2 天前