On Tuesday, Office Depot became the latest retailer to require customers to wear masks in stores. Evidence is mounting that shows masks are effective at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, and research shows that the majority of Americans are in favour of mask policies. As coronavirus cases rise across […]

Less than half of Americans say they would eat at a restaurant within a month of the coronavirus infection rate flattening, according to a recent Harris Poll shared with Business Insider. The poll, which surveyed over 3,000 Americans between June 26 and 29, found that only 40% of Americans would […]

Coronavirus cases have been skyrocketing in recent weeks, and at least part of the increase can be attributed to restaurants reopening their dining rooms. On Friday, Texas became the first state to partially reverse its reopening, and more shutdowns are on the horizon as cases continue to rise. These shutdowns […]

CEC Entertainment, the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday. Chuck E. Cheese’s finances have been in freefall since the start of the pandemic, with mounting debt and thrice-downgraded credit scores. Chuck E. Cheese’s brand of dinnertainment is one of many dine-in concepts […]

New York City allowed restaurants to reopen for outdoor dining only on Monday. We walked through the city’s Lower East Side neighbourhood to speak to restaurant owners and workers about the reopening process, and we found that footpath dining is far from a silver bullet for struggling restaurants. Social distancing […]

Under Armour’s new Sportsmask sold out in less than an hour after its release this week, according to Under Armour CEO Patrick Frisk. The $US30 mask is specially designed for athletes, and is Under Armour’s first commercially available mask. Take a look at photos of the Sportsmask in action below. […]

As many as 85% of independent restaurants may permanently close because of the pandemic by the end of 2020, according to a report commissioned by the Independent Restaurant Coalition. Independent restaurants, which comprise 70% of all restaurants, rely more heavily on dine-in revenue than chains and don’t have a corporate […]

1.37 million jobs returned to the restaurant industry in May, according to a report by the Bureau of Labour Statistics. However, this number is not necessarily indicative of a strong recovery in the restaurant industry. Seasonality, Paycheck Protection Program loans, and stimulus checks may have all played a role in […]

Restaurant chains were set to suffer major losses since the beginning of the pandemic, and Pizza Hut is the latest chain to announce a wave of permanent closures. Even with dining rooms reopening in some parts of the country, it’s still nearly impossible for casual-dining restaurants to generate a profit […]

Ruby Tuesday has quietly closed over 150 restaurants since January 23 and scrubbed them from its website. Ruby Tuesday has been shedding locations for years as it struggles to win younger consumers, and its casual dining concept makes it especially poorly positioned to weather the pandemic’s sudden shift to delivery. […]

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday that he will sign an executive order giving businesses the right to refuse service to customers not wearing masks. Business Insider previously spoke to employment and corporate policy lawyer Aaron Goldstein and James Biscone, a personal injury and workers’ compensation attorney. Goldstein […]

The internet was outraged after a diner discovered a pizza she thought she ordered from a local pizzeria had actually come from Chuck E. Cheese. But virtual, delivery-only restaurants are more common than many people may realise, and the pandemic may be the perfect business landscape for them to take […]

New York just passed a temporary 15% cap on third-party delivery commissions and a limit of 5% on marketing contributions and other related fees. And Uber Eats, which just made a bid to buy Grubhub, is locked in a bitter feud with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop. Food delivery is […]

Restaurants in reopened states face a dilemma: follow safety guidelines and lose money, or flout safety guidelines to make a profit. Social distancing safety guidelines enforce half or quarter capacity for sit-down dining as restaurants reopen, but it’s nigh-impossible for restaurants to profit without more access to dining space. As […]

Restaurants in some states across the country have been allowed to reopen their dining rooms. While many have decided to keep dining rooms closed, some restaurants, like Waffle House and Cracker Barrel, have decided to reopen. But the path to reopening isn’t straightforward – all states that have reopened have […]

Steak n’ Shake is permanently closing 51 restaurants, according to parent company Biglari Holdings’ most recent quarterly report. The burger chain has been struggling for the last several years, “temporarily” closing over a hundred locations and haemorrhaging millions of dollars as sales plummet. Steak n’ Shake’s turnaround plan relies on […]

Kroger will sell Impossible Foods’ plant-based “beef” grounds at over 1700 stores across the US, Impossible announced on Tuesday. This announcement comes as meat processing plant closures spur fears of a meat shortage, and Kroger and other grocers are starting to limit the amount of meat that shoppers can buy. […]

Garden Fresh, which owns salad buffet chains Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes, announced on May 8 that it would file for bankruptcy. Plagued by bankruptcy filings, food poisoning incidents, and millennial disdain, buffets were struggling well before the coronavirus pandemic began. From 1998 to 2017, the number of buffet restaurants decreased […]

Fast-food chains around the world are drawing long lines as they reopen. Burger King reopened its first UK location on Thursday, causing a gridlock in the town of Havant in Hampshire. On April 22 in France, customers waited up to three hours to order from a McDonald’s restaurant’s drive thru […]

Starting May 4, Costco will require all shoppers to wear masks in stores, the chain announced on Wednesday. All shoppers will be required to wear masks or face coverings that cover the nose and mouth at all times. The store will also return to regular hours on May 4 and […]

Business Insider hosted a SPOTLIGHT digital live event with restaurant industry leaders last week, moderated by retail correspondent Kate Taylor. The event featured Checkers CEO Frances Allen, Raising Cane’s founder and CEO Todd Graves, and chain restaurant analyst John Gordon. The speakers identified seven vital strategies that restaurants have been […]

Business Insider hosted a SPOTLIGHT digital live event with restaurant industry leaders last week, moderated by retail correspondent Kate Taylor. Veteran analyst John Gordon predicted that restaurants would soon see a bump in sales as Americans receive stimulus checks. Raising Cane’s founder and CEO Todd Graves also said that his […]

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, major cities around the United States are shutdown as residents practice social distancing. I went out – by car – into my native Boston to see what the city looked like. Bustling downtown was silent – and even Dunkin’ Doughnuts was closed. Visit […]

On Thursday, Business Insider’s hosted a SPOTLIGHT digital live event with restaurant industry leaders to discuss how restaurants are navigating the coronavirus pandemic. Correspondent Kate Taylor was joined by Frances Allen, the CEO of Checkers & Rally’s, Todd Graves, the founder and CEO of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, and John […]

The coronavirus pandemic has dealt an unfathomable blow to independent restaurants, forcing many to close. Jade Garden, a family-owned restaurant, is the only one still open on its block in Seattle’s Chinatown. But it’s struggled to stay open in the face of vandalism, price gouging, and a lack of staff. […]

The UK’s economy could contract 6.5% in 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a major contraction but not the 23.5% in 1349, the time of the Black Death, a Deutsche Bank report finds. A lot has changed in 700 years, and while this impact won’t be as drastic […]

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in shutdowns and massive losses for retailers, restaurants, and their workers. But many are supplementing their income losses by pivoting to new tactics and opportunities that are more suited to the pandemic. Here are nine ways that retailers and workers are still making money while […]