While restaurants slowly begin to reopen for dine-in guests in Arkansas and most nearby states, consumers are not eager to rush back, according to a national survey by Piper Sandler.
The two-part survey conducted in April and May found just 47% of respondents are likely to visit their favorite restaurants as soon as they reopen, well below the 60% who said they would do so in the April survey.
The group surveyed had an average age of 44 and an average income of $78,000, and 90% were abiding by stay-at-home orders.
Under phase 1 of the reopening plan outlined by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, restaurants can only open 33% of their capacity, expanding to 67% in phase 2, which has been pushed back from May 18 as more COVID-19 cases have emerged.
Jan Kniffen, a retail consultant with J. Rogers Kniffen Worldwide, told Talk Business & Politics the restaurant industry cannot survive for long at just 33% or even 67% capacity.
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