Small Businesses Are Dying by the Thousands -- And No One Is Tracking the Carnage

[Demovictory9]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-11/small-firms-die-quietly-leaving-thousands-of-failures-uncounted

Small Businesses Are Dying by the Thousands — And No One Is Tracking the Carnage
By Madeleine Ngo
August 11, 2020, 6:08 AM PDT
They simply close down and never show up in bankruptcy tallies
More than half of owners are worried their firm won’t survive

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Big companies are going bankrupt at a record pace, but that’s only part of the carnage. By some accounts, small businesses are disappearing by the thousands amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and the drag on the economy from these failures could be huge.

This wave of silent failures goes uncounted in part because real-time data on small business is notoriously scarce, and because owners of small firms often have no debt, and thus no need for bankruptcy court.

“Probably all you need to do is call the utilities and tell them to turn them off and close your door,” said William Dunkelberg, who runs a monthly survey as chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business. Nevertheless, closures “are going to be well above normal because we’re in a disastrous economic situation,” Dunkelberg said.

Yelp Inc., the online reviewer, has data showing more than 80,000 permanently shuttered from March 1 to July 25. About 60,000 were local businesses, or firms with fewer than five locations. About 800 small businesses did indeed file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy from mid-February to July 31, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the trade group expects the 2020 total could be up 36% from last year.

While the businesses are small individually, the collective impact of their failures could be substantial. Firms with fewer than 500 employees account for about 44% of U.S. economic activity, according to a U.S. Small Business Administration report, and they employ almost half of all American workers.

Justine Bacon permanently shut her Yoga Brain studio in Philadelphia after deciding it was too dangerous to hold indoor classes because of the pandemic. Bacon didn’t file for bankruptcy, she just simply closed up shop and went out of business on June 30.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-11/small-firms-die-quietly-leaving-thousands-of-failures-uncounted

[634-5789]

1. Larger businesses also.

2 of the local buffets have closed for good, and a lumber yard also has found it's demise due to the COVID.

[genxlib]

2. I think it was bound to go unnoticed due to the circumstances

Many are closed or seriously under-utilized. The difference between being temporarily closed and permanently closed is hard to notice at times like these. As the closures wear on, more and more will never reopen. In many cases, we won't realize that they are gone for good until they remain shuttered past a time when they could be reopened. I suspect there will be a time in the future when we joyfully venture out to re-discover past joys only to find those places not available to us.

This is a tragedy of epic proportions to those business owners. But I think other businesses will bounce back in their places. Where there is a demand, people will fill it.

[qwlauren35]

5. Already there.

My favorite restaurant in Crofton, MD, the Big Fish Grille, has not re-opened and I am heartbroken. They had the best boom-boom shrimp for miles around. Better than Bonefish Grill.

We have been patronizing small-business restaurants via take-out for the last 5 months, and I feel as though we are contributing to the economy. I have also been Itsy shopping - small businesses.

[kimbutgar]

3. I drove down one of the longest boulevards in my city recentlyn

And was shocked by the number of boarded up businesses. Then went to a strip mall and the Tuesday morning store was closing in three days out of business. A long time motel near the beach with a great cafe closed. It’s so sad seeing all this end of business. My hair dresser hasn’t been opened since March 17th. I wonder if it’ll ever reopen. This business has been around 40+ years with different owners.

[Demovictory9]

4. I live near disneyland. Disney is surrounded by HUGE hotels... all sit empty month after month

most are major chains that will survive but the sheer economic carnage caused by large hotels sitting empty (loss of jobs and tax revenue). and that trickles down to the large restaurants surrounding the hotels, and other businesses that make their $$ from disney visitors.

[kimbutgar]

6. We were in Disneyland on the last day it was open and I wondered how the motels and hotels were

Doing. The last day at Disneyland the 13th was eerie. And when we checked out of our hotel on the 14th the staff was very grim.

[Demovictory9]

7. those normally $400 - $600 night hotels are listed for $75 to $100

that section of Harbor boulevard is like a ghost town. normally bustling with crowds

crossing the streets back and forth to the hotels..... empty. no sidewalk traffic.

and further to the west.. that MASSIVE Great wolf lodge sits empty also.