Peering into the future of the Wilmington-area restaurant industry, is the glass half empty or half full? It’s complicated.
 
These are strange days, after all, especially for an industry built around seating as many people as possible in fairly crowded quarters and, in some cases, for long periods – the exact opposite of social-distancing.
 
And it definitely depends on your point of view.
 
Brian Cadwallader, owner of the Copper Penny, was reading online reviews recently when he came across one noting that people were not being seated even though the restaurant/pub was only half full. In reality, with regulations limiting restaurants to 50% of capacity, the popular downtown spot had a full house.
 
“There is that small sector that just don’t get it,” Cadwallader said. “They’ll walk in and be like, ‘What do you mean I can’t sit at these other five open tables?’”
 
Fortunately for Cadwallader and several other restaurant owners, such customers have been the exception.
 
“People have been absolutely incredible for the most part,” said Cadwallader, who opened the Copper Penny on St. Patrick’s Day in 2004.
 
Seven months into COVID-19, there is some good news for the hard-hit restaurant industry, as inside-dining has returned (though limited) and people have gotten more used to masks and practicing social distancing.
 
And a half year of life dominated by the coronavirus has culminated in a very important moment: Revenue (albeit reduced) for some seems to have stabilized, and restaurant owners and managers know more of what they are up against. That’s a welcome development compared to the early days of the pandemic.
 
“If you have stable sales, you know how to plan and prepare, you know how to schedule your staff and order your food,” said Tom Harris, who has owned Front Street Brewery since 2006. “So we’ve been able to develop a model where we are profitable with smaller sales, so that will get us through the pandemic until the good times.”
 
Of course, reduced sales bite into the bottom line and mean fewer workers are needed.
 
After having to lay off nearly his entire staff last spring, Harris has hired back 50 – half of the pre- COVID level. At the brewery, sales are at 60% from a year ago.
 
“That is 100% attributable to having less seats,” Harris said. “But we don’t want more seats in the restaurant until this pandemic is totally passed. If the governor announced tomorrow that we could go back to 100% capacity, we would not do it.”
 
The Copper Penny’s revenues and staffing are at 70% year over year.
 
Not only do restaurant owners have a better grasp on where they are headed, many have made significant changes needed to get there, notably adding or expanding takeout and delivery service.
 
That has kept Farriss Hospitality busy. From holding cabinets to food carriers, the Wilmington business has helped restaurants create new or expanded revenue streams.
 
“We’ve been very proactive with helping a lot of our clients who weren’t in the delivery business, were not in the takeout business, to explore those avenues,” Bill Farriss, of Farriss Hospitality, said.
 
Farriss also is hearing from people in larger urban areas who want to move their restaurant to a smaller place or move and open something completely new. Brunswick County is especially active.
 
The Copper Penny and Front Street both had to move on a dime to change how they sold their products with fewer employees. Takeout and delivery at the Copper Penny went from 10% of business to 50%.
 
“We renovated the restaurant and put a [takeout] counter up there and added parking just for takeout and implemented new computers where you could order online,” said Cadwallader, who believes expanded takeout is here to stay.
 
He believes expanded takeout is here to stay.
 
Both Cadwallader and Harris praised the “parklet” program that the city and some downtown organizations started, with parking spaces blocked with barricades to allow for outdoor dining.
 
Not all businesses have survived. The Foxes Boxes in the Brooklyn Arts District recently closed along with its TFB Externship Academy, which provided on-the-job training for marginalized people.
 
Owner Rachel Bodkin-Fox said small restaurants were hit hard.
 
“For a small owner-operated restaurant like The Foxes Boxes, having to close for a day can impact our monthly P&L [profit and loss numbers], so closing for over two months is detrimental,” she said.
 
Bodkin-Fox believes the longevity of the disease is a concern.
 
“There is no guarantee that all customers will feel comfortable and/ or safe to return to crowded restaurants while there are still active cases of COVID-19,” she said.
 
She suspects the industry will continue to be challenged by increased food costs, lack of availability of certain products, adding online orderings systems and keeping up with changing health department policies, among others.
 
The hospitality and service industry can be a great way to get people who are struggling to get back to work, she said. Bodkin-Fox hopes the pandemic brings more appreciation for the work they do.
 
“Often careers in the service industry are not given the respect they deserve,” she said. “During the pandemic, many [people] learned just how much they value and depend on restaurants.”