Yelp Says 60% of Coronavirus-driven Business Closures are Permanent

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many businesses hard this year and some that had to close will be now permanently closed according to Yelp.

The review site has found that 60% of coronavirus-driven business closures are permanent and restaurants were the hardest hit.

Sixty percent of businesses that were shuttered in March during the coronavirus will remain closed for good, said a Yelp report released this week.

As many as 97,966 businesses on Yelp have closed permanently between March 1 and Aug. 31, according to a September Local Economic Impact report.

163,735 businesses on Yelp’s platform alone have also experienced shutdowns in the same five-month period.

The overall number of permanent and temporary business closures on Yelp has surged 23% since July 10, when the website issued its Q2 Yelp Economic Average report.

Yelp has found that the restaurant industry has seen the most impact, with many forced to operate on delivery-
only, scrambling to pay rent and keep workers employed with slim margins. 32,109 restaurants, bars and nightlife establishments closed as of Aug. 31, with 19,590 of these closures (61%) indicated to be permanent, said the data.

Bars and nightlife have seen permanent closures rising by 10 percent since July.

Retail and shopping have seen a similar rise in permanent closures, with clothing and home decor shuttering at the highest rates.

The beauty industry saw an increase of 43 percent for a total of 7,002 permanent shut-downs since July.

Yelp also found that Los Angeles and New York City have seen the highest total number of permanent closures, with more than 7,000 businesses in each city shutting down for good.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) and have not been compensated for this article.