Main Street Monday – 60% of Small Businesses Are Now Permanently Closed

September 28, 2020

By: Caity Roach
Contributing Editor, Main Street Monday

Main Street Monday – 60% of Small Businesses Are Now Permanently Closed

Since the coronavirus pandemic emerged in the U.S. in early March, small businesses across the nation have endured six months of uncertainty. Although some businesses have been able to adapt to the changing economic environment, new data released by Yelp suggests that a staggering 60% of small businesses have now closed their doors permanently.

Here are the key findings from Yelp’s September Coronavirus Economic Impact Report:

  • In total, 163,735 small businesses have had to close either temporarily or permanently as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Of those 97,966  businesses are permanently shuttered.

  • Health-related businesses have the least amount of closures with less than three closures out of every thousand businesses. Other sectors with a low amount of closures include: lawyers, real estate agents, architects, and accountants (with only two to three out of every thousand businesses closed).

  • Restaurants remain the hardest hit with 32,109  closures. 19,590 of which are permanent (61%). The hardest-hit restaurants include: breakfast and brunch restaurants, burger joints, sandwich shops, dessert places, and Mexican restaurants.

  • Retail and shopping follow closely behind restaurants with 30,374 total business closures, 17,503 of which are permanent (58%).

  • The beauty industry has seen the steepest incline in permanent closures of any industry with 42% permanently closed at the end of August (a 43% increase since July).  Similarly, the fitness industry has endured a 23% increase in closures since July with 2,616 now permanently closed.

  • The states with the most closures are home to the hardest-hit metros: Las Vegas in Nevada, Honolulu in Hawaii, and several of the largest California urban areas, with roughly 20 businesses per thousand temporarily or permanently closed.

Additional funding for small business relief programs and the reinstatement of PPP could save the thousands of small businesses that continue to operate at low capacity or remain closed. However, as negotiations surrounding the economic relief package become more partisan, the prospect of passing a comprehensive relief bill before the November 3rd election dwindles.

Sources:
Yelp Economic Average (YEA)