Yelp: Restaurants and Food Businesses Show Resiliency

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The restaurant industry and others could be on the brink of recovery, according to data contained in Yelp’s Annual 2020 Yelp Economic Average (YEA) report. In fact, In the third quarter of 2020, YEA observed restaurant and food businesses open at pre-pandemic levels and data indicates the number of restaurant and food business openings approached and even surpassed 2019 levels in the fourth quarter. 

Openings are determined by counting new businesses listed on Yelp. Restaurant and food business owners opened 18,207 restaurants nationwide in the last quarter of 2020, down only four from the same time period last year – and down only 16 percent comparing the full year of 2020 to 2019.

YEA found that reopenings of local businesses increased in the fourth quarter, with a total of 230,209 businesses reopening between March 1 and December 31. Data from Yelp’s third quarter YEA report found 210,000 reopenings occurred nationwide, as of September 30. Reopenings slowed in…