I’ll admit, due to the pandemic, it’s been a summer to remember (or forget, depending on your point of view).  With all of the social distancing, rules, and just plain fear of catching the COVID-19 virus keeping customers away, running a business during the past six months has been anything but easy.

Today, I’ll focus on restaurants and other food eateries, one of the hardest hit sectors in the recent economic downturn.  ‘Business Insider’ recently reported that as many as 85% of independent restaurants may close by the end of 2020, and ABC News just reported this past Saturday that 16,000 eateries have already shutdown nationwide(according to data provided by the internet restaurant site ‘Yelp’).  That’s an astounding number, and one that will only get worse as the pandemic rages on into the fall.

Other than delivery and curbside pick-up, what’s a restaurant to do?  Locally, I’ve seen some weird sights in the past few weeks as Maryland has eased some of its pandemic restrictions.

Remember those carnival food stands, whose brightly colored food trucks offer up such mouthwatering delicacies as deep-fried oreos, funnel cakes, and corn dogs?  Well, they have been popping up all over my county in parking lots and busy intersections, their owners trying to salvage some revenue out of a summer season that has been ravaged by cancellation after cancellation of carnivals and festivals all over the Eastern seaboard.  I’ve even seen one parked at the base of a hill next to a local church, right next to the cemetery.  Nothing puts me in the mood for a candy apple quicker than a trip to see great-grandpa Larry’s headstone.  Some of them have regular hours, and I’m shocked to say that I’ve witnessed lines of cars pulled over onto the shoulder, waiting for their chance to purchase a box of popcorn or a bag of cotton candy.  Seriously.

Some large nationwide chains have set-up tents in their parking lots, offering outdoor dining options to those who are brave enough to sit in the summer heat.  I’m sorry, but a plate of badly made potato skins and an overpriced draft beer are not a great enticement for me to sit outside in 90+ degree heat, where I’ll be sweating through my shirt and a developing a good case of “swamp butt” in mere minutes.

It’s not all gloom and doom, though.  Like them or not, ‘Chick-fil-A’ has definitely got their act together.  They were already a model of fast and efficient drive-thru service before the pandemic hit – but now?  They’ve got lines around the entire store and into the adjoining parking lots (all day), but their squad of teenagers and twenty-somethings expertly handle the crowds with military discipline and precision, churning through the lines of cars like they were managing a supply drop on the beaches of Normandy in late June of 1944.  My local location even has a double drive-thru.  Yes, two lanes are going non-stop (with traffic control), and a smiling (but sweaty) worker is always polite, helpful, and at the ready to respond “my pleasure” every time I say “thank you”.  It’s amazing just to watch.

The other consumer victor in this pandemic?  Liquor stores.  My local corner store has enjoyed a brisk and steady business, and they are also innovating.  They’ve recently enhanced their beer and wine offerings with “slushies”.  Yes, think of that old favorite, the ‘7-Eleven’ “Slurpee”, only doused with booze – and I’m not talking a smidge.  Some of these 16-ounce beauties are running at a whopping 14% alcohol (for comparison, a regular beer runs around 4.5%).  In the three weeks since they’ve installed the machine (which has two flavors to choose from and is constantly changing), the proprietors tell me they sell an average of seventy of these a day (no, that’s not a typo – I said seventy a day) at $3.99 each.  People buy these as a “to go” item on their way home from work on a Tuesday (“yes, I’ll take a 30-pack of Coors Lite, a fifth of Jack Daniels, and give me one of those ‘Green Apple Nut Buster” slushie things – I’ve still got thirty miles to go”).   Yikes.   My mother had one on a recent afternoon while sitting on her porch, and she said not only was she hammered, but when she finally woke up, it was dark outside.  She called my house to ask what day it was.  That is one serious drink.

I’m sure more changes and adjustments are in store for both restaurants and retail as we move into the fall.  Halloween parade and autumn festivals are already beginning to get the axe, so it may be well into 2021 before things start looking brighter.  Hang in there, everybody!