Kura Sushi USA posted a USD 8 million (EUR 6.6 million) sales loss in its most recent quarter and numerous restaurants across the United States have closed their doors due to dining restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Irvine, California-based Kura Sushi said in a press release that, after California enacted a total ban on indoor and outdoor dining starting 6 December, its December sales plunged 64 percent. It also reported a USD 8 million drop in its fiscal first quarter of 2021 to USD 9.4 million (EUR 7.7 million).
“While we remain optimistic about our business and its growth potential, we are still operating in an uncertain environment,” Kura President and CEO Hajime Uba said in a press release. “As we progress through our fiscal second quarter, we see a new set of tougher state and local operational restrictions, particularly in California.”
During its fiscal first quarter, the company was able to operate 27 out of 28 restaurants at various capacity restrictions, which improved total sales by 70 percent compared to the fiscal fourth quarter of 2020, Uba said.
Kura Sushi’s bad news echoes the pain currently being felt throughout the national foodservice scene. More than 110,000 restaurants – 17 percent of all eateries – across the country are closed permanently or long-term, according to the National Restaurant Association.
New York City’s restaurant scene has been hit especially hard after the state shut down indoor dining in December, and the weather remains too cold for diners to eat outdoors.
“Restaurants and bars are essential to the social and economic fabric of New York City and the industry job loss is at a crisis level like we’ve never experienced,” Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said in a press release.
Restaurants and bars in New York City lost 140,700 jobs over the past year — including a 55 percent loss in the full-service restaurant sector.
“The industry lost another 11,700 jobs between November and December 2020, which can be attributed to more permanent restaurant closures, the state shutting down indoor dining for a second time, and fewer people eating outside in winter temperatures,” Rigie said. “If New York City is to pull itself out of this economic grave and gain jobs, we must safely bring back regulated indoor dining like it’s permitted in the rest of New York state, and the Biden Administration and Congress must enact the RESTAURANTS Act stimulus plan very soon.
The National Restaurant Association and the Independent Restaurant Coalition are also urging Congress to quickly pass the RESTAURANTS Act, which calls for a financial relief package for the foodservice sector.
The National Fisheries Institute also supports passage of the RESTAURANTS Act.
“We’re supportive of legislation that recognizes needs throughout the seafood value chain and restaurants are certainly an important part of that,” Gavin Gibbons, vice president of communications at the National Fisheries Institute, told SeafoodSource.
Photo courtesy of Kura Sushi USA
