Retail Watchers

Last night my wife and I wanted to go to Red Robin, having been sent a 20% off coupon through their loyalty program. Owing to the limited dining room capacity, we tried to call ahead to get on the waitlist, but ultimately it took us calling four different locations to find one that was actually open for dine-in. Two of the locations I called said that they were short-staffed and were doing take-out orders only, and one location was just flat-out closed on a Friday evening. All of these restaurants were in locations with 50% capacity limits, but it seems that even with that there are some that are just having trouble finding enough employees to stay open. Maybe this is one of the reasons a lot of restaurants (mostly fast food) are being so slow to reopen their indoor dining rooms?

Many restaurant workers have discovered that they make more money on unemployment than working at a low wage restaurant.

I see fast food people work for a few weeks and then quit. Living on generous unemployment is the new way of life.

There are huge help wanted signs in front of McDonald's and even at fancy Brazilian steak houses. The restaurants have reopened in California at 50 percent, but it is obvious the restaurants are packed even more than that. Then you have outdoor seating in the parking lots that make the restaurants even busier than before the pandemic.

Once people get the vaccinations, they go out to eat to celebrate. The economy is coming back and it is booming. I work in a pharmacy and that is what all the vaccinated people talk about. They talk about going out to eat, travel, flying on airplanes, going to the beach, etc. People are filled with hope and a positive outlook on life now.

Restaurants have been quite busy in my area ever since indoor dining reopened months ago. I think we may still be at 50% capacity but based on some observations I see I am not sure how much that is being enforced.

Some fast food places have actually re-opened dine in then closed it again... backwards... Starbucks included on that. Starbucks closed dine-in again last week around Reno due to a "spike in cases." The "spike in cases" was we went from about 30 new cases a day to 40 new cases a day. Someone must have gotten the sensationalized headline that new cases were up 30%+ over prior week and taken that as a "spike in cases."

Another industry that is severely hurting on staffing is hospitality- hotel. Housekeeping especially.

I know customers want dine in reopened, but it is a difficult decision. If you are around a COVID positive person for 15 minutes, that is enough to give you COVID. My guess is that a barista or cashier contracted COVID and they assumed that the customers were spreading it to them.

They simply want to limit the chance that a COVID spreading person doesn't sit in the dining for 15 minutes and expose all the employees. If you add up 8 hours a day, even if 3 COVID infected people are sitting there for 5 minutes each, that is enough for a 15 minute dose of coronavirus.

Or it could be that they just don't want to have to keep cleaning the dining room all day long.

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑April 18th, 2021, 8:04 pm I know customers want dine in reopened, but it is a difficult decision. If you are around a COVID positive person for 15 minutes, that is enough to give you COVID. My guess is that a barista or cashier contracted COVID and they assumed that the customers were spreading it to them.

They simply want to limit the chance that a COVID spreading person doesn't sit in the dining for 15 minutes and expose all the employees. If you add up 8 hours a day, even if 3 COVID infected people are sitting there for 5 minutes each, that is enough for a 15 minute dose of coronavirus.

Or it could be that they just don't want to have to keep cleaning the dining room all day long.

I don't necessarily mind if the dine-in is closed per se, but at least want the to-go option to be available. This drive through only thing... is just not good.

storewanderer wrote: ↑April 18th, 2021, 9:03 pm

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑April 18th, 2021, 8:04 pm I know customers want dine in reopened, but it is a difficult decision. If you are around a COVID positive person for 15 minutes, that is enough to give you COVID. My guess is that a barista or cashier contracted COVID and they assumed that the customers were spreading it to them.

They simply want to limit the chance that a COVID spreading person doesn't sit in the dining for 15 minutes and expose all the employees. If you add up 8 hours a day, even if 3 COVID infected people are sitting there for 5 minutes each, that is enough for a 15 minute dose of coronavirus.

Or it could be that they just don't want to have to keep cleaning the dining room all day long.

I don't necessarily mind if the dine-in is closed per se, but at least want the to-go option to be available. This drive through only thing... is just not good.

And doing just that wouldn't be an issue, since people are ordering and leaving, so not spending that much time in the actual building (not to mention being separated with dividers - really no different than any other retail store at that point).

It does make it much easier to distribute the customers, and allows those with harder orders to not hold up those wanting to get something small and simple (unlike in a drive thru lane, unless they could ever get those double lanes to work like an express/large order lane setup).

I saw a sign in front of a Burger King saying $250 sign on bonus. These restaurants really are desperate.

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑April 21st, 2021, 7:56 pm I saw a sign in front of a Burger King saying $250 sign on bonus. These restaurants really are desperate.

Don't know why but I think that is funny.

Junk food store having a problem getting help after treating their employees sooooooo well and paying them soooo much and providing soooooo many great benefits like excellent health insurance...................

Tsk tsk tsk...............

Drive-thru/Carry Out/Order through the online food delivery sites is the future of QSRs

veteran+ wrote: ↑April 22nd, 2021, 5:50 am

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑April 21st, 2021, 7:56 pm I saw a sign in front of a Burger King saying $250 sign on bonus. These restaurants really are desperate.

Don't know why but I think that is funny.

Junk food store having a problem getting help after treating their employees sooooooo well and paying them soooo much and providing soooooo many great benefits like excellent health insurance...................

Tsk tsk tsk...............

Going to have to be a little better than that. That is less than the extra weekly payment the gig workers on the pandemic unemployment assistance program qualify for. Why in the heck would folks like the gig workers displaced during COVID go take that job with a $250 sign on bonus when they can get at least $500 a week to just stay home? And once you start providing something to people it is sure hard to take it away.

And why do we have the gig workers in the first place? Because of regular jobs that paid people such lousy compensation packages that people accepted gig work as it at least provided some degree of flexibility, instead of putting up with regular jobs that were part time at a low wage with crummy schedules and few to no benefits.

This $250 sign on bonus is insulting really. I wonder how long you have to stay working there to get it, or not have to pay it back. Like could someone apply, work one day, pocket the $250, and go? Perhaps you would need to stay until at least the time they cut the first paycheck which would probably be at least a week. Doesn't even seem worth it for that.