yeah, too little too late.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll take the money. But even the patriots have a better chance of rebuilding in the next year than our economy does.
So many business are closing and so many will never reopen. They just can't. Even major chains, like The Cheesecake Factory, said they don't have the cash flow to make rent on their locations. Other dining chains that were allowed to stay open for take out are closing anyway (like Red Robin) because it's not worth staying open.
My girlfriend works for a regional chain of hardware and pet stores. They're allowed to stay open as they provide necessary consumer commodities...but after everyone stocked up the first week, business is way way way down. On top of that, they decided to do curb-side pickup instead of having foot traffic in store. The cost of paying employees, in some locations, exceeds the net income to the store. My girlfriend, who can see all stores real-time sales figures, said that one store GROSSED less than $1,000 a day this week.
When this is all over, the survivors are going to be the mega corporations that were allowed to remain open and could handle the costs associated with doing business during the pandemic. Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens, Amazon... they all have CEO's on the presidential task force and they're all actually staffing UP and giving raises and bonuses to employees (as they should)--- all the while, smaller chains simply can not compete.
Retail margins are low - restaurants are even lower. I don't see our local "country dinner" (thats the name) which closed last week ever reopening.