美国国家公共电台 NPR--Restaurants that survived the pandemic are now threatened by inflation

Restaurants that survived the pandemic are now threatened by inflation

Transcript¹

It was a lot of hard work, and a little bit of luck, that helped 34-year-old Joseph Charles steer² his Boston pizza place through the worst of the pandemic.

Rock City Pizza had the advantage of being on the outskirts³ of the city, instead of in the mostly deserted⁴ downtown, and it had the benefit of having a takeout window already built in. When indoor dining was banned in March 2020, Charles worked seven days a week adapting his business model and hustling⁵ pizzas and subs out the window to masked customers on the sidewalk or into delivery cars.

"It was real tough," Charles recalls. "Real trying times. But we did what we had to. And fortunately we're here now."

Unfortunately, however, doing business now is no less trying.

"Inflation is just ridiculous now," says Charles. "It's harder to do business than it was in the pandemic. It is."

While his sales over the last two years rebounded⁶ to about 75% of what they were pre-pandemic, Charles says they've now slumped⁷ back down to about half, as his customers — who are also feeling the pinch — are cutting spending.

Food prices aren't the only higher cost

Rock City Pizza is one of the countless⁸ restaurants around the nation that are struggling with sky-high food prices — as well as higher costs for rent, labor⁹, gasoline and cooking gas — but are limited in how much of those increases they can pass on to their customers. It's especially challenging for lower-priced places, as their profit margins¹⁰ are typically tighter and their clientele tends to be more price-sensitive.

"These establishments cannot deal with these rapid escalating¹¹ costs," says Hudson Riehle, senior vice¹² president of research and knowledge at the National Restaurant Association. It's a kind of "double whammy" the industry hasn't seen in generations.

Wholesale¹³ food costs were 17% higher in March than the same time last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And, as of December, average hourly earnings¹⁴ for restaurant and bar employees had risen 15% in the prior year, more than any other year on record.

Charles says his payroll¹⁵ has ballooned even more; he's paying staff 1 1/2 times what he paid them two years ago, and even more to his delivery guys, as gas prices have spiked¹⁶. On the weekends, he says, the $400 he used to pay for deliveries has swelled¹⁷ to about $1,000, as he is now paying drivers more and also reimbursing¹⁸ them for gas.

"You've got to be creative to keep them," he says. "You really do."

At the same time, Charles' rent has jumped about 15%, and some basic paper goods that are his staples¹⁹, such as bags, plates and containers, have quadrupled in price.

"It's just nuts," he says, sighing.

To compensate²⁰, Charles has been raising menu prices — so often that he stopped printing paper menus and switched to a digital menu only. But he's all too aware that there's a limit to how much inflation his customers will tolerate.

A large plain pizza is already 19 bucks²¹; add mushroom and onion, delivery and tax, and it's $31 and change. And that's before any tip for the delivery person.

"At the end of the day, we still sell a pizza. We're not selling diamonds," he says. "And you have a ceiling to what you can charge the customer."

Owner Joseph Charles and an employee prepare pizzas for delivery to a nearby business. but orders are way down he says, since inflation has driven prices up.

Tovia Smith/NPR

Indeed, his customers are paying attention.

The lunch special of two slices and a drink "used to be $5," muses²² Alexis Lee, who has come to pick up an order. "Now it's like $7. It's up $2 more."

When she's working across the street, Lee says, she's still willing to shell out the extra cash. But other things she used to buy have already become too much.

"I just say forget about it."

Even popular items are disappearing off the menu

It's a lesson Charles learned the hard way. When the cost of steak shot up, and he raised the menu prices of his steak dishes accordingly, his customers abruptly²³ stopped buying them.

"Sometimes I would go three or four days without selling a steak sub, [or] steak rice bowls, which are a huge, huge seller," he says. "It was a clear message. The consumer has spoken."

Charles ended up pulling steak off the menu for a while. He did the same thing with chicken, eighty-sixing even his bestselling Buffalo²⁴ chicken pizza.

It all left him thinking about the unthinkable.

"It's scary times," he says. "It makes you think, should you be doing something else with your time and energy. It's just real tough to sustain this long term."

Some 90,000 restaurants in the U.S. have closed down temporarily or permanently²⁵ since the pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association. Those that survived, Riehle says, are running on razor thin margins, often as little as 1% of sales.

At the same time, independent, affordable²⁶ places are also under more competitive pressure from casual dining big chains like Chipotle or Panera, says Steven Carvell, professor of finance and strategy at the Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University's SC Johnson College of Business.

"Because they're larger, they have better supply chains [and] more consistent costs on their inputs²⁷, so it gives them more leeway to maintain a profit margin," says Carvell. "That's another threat to these restaurateurs."

Some people are eating out less and cooking at home

Recent surveys suggest restaurant spending is one of the first things people would cut because of rising prices.

Indeed, at a supermarket around the corner from Rock City Pizza, many shoppers say they've already traded eating out for more cooking at home.

"Yeah, for me it's seltzer water and ground turkey for the time being," says Chris Puzacke, leaving the store with his groceries. He says he's already gone from his usual three to four dinners out a week to less than once a week.

Even when he found himself walking by his favorite chicken wing place last week, Puzacke says he kept walking.

"The first thing that came to mind was 'I can only imagine how expensive a plate of chicken wings is right now,' " he says. "So I skipped it. I'm definitely holding back."

Retirees Tom and Debbie McGovern have also cut back on their dinners out, indulging on special occasions only.

"We used to go out every day pretty much," says Tom McGovern. And definitely for "every Red Sox game and every Bruins game."

"I like to be with people and get that energy," adds Debbie McGovern. "But now it's just once in a while. It's just too expensive."

Restaurants, meanwhile, continue trying new ways to draw more customers back in, from "Frequent French Fry" reward programs to offering buy-one-get-one deals or discount coupons²⁹. Restaurants lose revenue on those deals in the short run, but Sean Jung, assistant professor at Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration, says they can pay off in the long run.

"You have to build that loyalty³⁰ with that customer in order to actually rake in that profit of that coupon²⁸ you provided," Jung says.

Charles has been feeling it at Rock City Pizza, where he continues to offer promotions³¹ to his price-sensitive customers.

"It's tough right now to give out coupons," he says. "But you've got to do whatever it takes."

He has also come up with other ways to try to boost revenues. Instead of raising prices per pie, for example, "you've got to be creative," he says. "Maybe you go up on the toppings, 10 cents on the pepperoni, and 10 cents on the sausage. And you ask customers, 'Hey, would you like a pepperoni pizza instead of just a cheese pizza?' "

Still, as hard as he tries, he is all too aware it might not be enough. Opening Rock City Pizza in 2003 was his dream come true. He had worked seven days a week as an employee of another pizza place, saving every penny he could to open one of his own. Now, after all his hard work building a successful business and surviving even the pandemic, it's hard to fathom³², he says, but it's possible that he could end up having to surrender to inflation.

"It's like you thought you won, but we're not done yet," he says. "It's really tough to stay afloat right now, [and] it's drastic enough to reevaluate the situation."

Everything, he sighs, "is on the table."

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

3 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

4 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

5 hustling   

催促（hustle的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Our quartet was out hustling and we knew we stood good to take in a lot of change before the night was over. 我们的四重奏是明显地卖座的， 而且我们知道在天亮以前，我们有把握收入一大笔钱。
• Men in motors were hustling to pass one another in the hustling traffic. 开汽车的人在繁忙的交通中急急忙忙地互相超车。

6 rebounded   

弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效

参考例句：

• The ball rebounded from the goalpost and Owen headed it in. 球从门柱弹回，欧文头球将球攻进。
• The ball rebounded from his racket into the net. 球从他的球拍上弹回网中。

7 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

8 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

11 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

12 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

13 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

14 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

15 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

16 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

17 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

18 reimbursing   

v.偿还，付还( reimburse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• All banking charges outside Korea and reimbursing are for account of beneficiary. 所有韩国以外的用度及偿付行用度由受益人承担。 来自互联网
• A reimbursing bank's charges are for the account of the issuing bank. 然而，如果费用系由受益人承担，则开证行有责任在信用证和偿付授权书中予以注明。 来自互联网

19 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

20 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

21 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 muses   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. 欧洲那种御用的诗才，我们已经听够了。 来自辞典例句
• Shiki muses that this is, at least, probably the right atmosphere. 志贵觉得这至少是正确的气氛。 来自互联网

23 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

24 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

25 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

26 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

27 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

28 coupon   

n.息票，配给票，附单

参考例句：

• The coupon can be used once only.此优惠券只限使用一次。
• I have a coupon for ten pence off a packet of soap.我有一张优惠券买一盒肥皂可以便宜十便士。

29 coupons   

n.礼券( coupon的名词复数 )；优惠券；订货单；参赛表

参考例句：

• The company gives away free coupons for drinks or other items. 公司为饮料或其它项目发放免费赠券。 来自辞典例句
• Do you have any coupons? 你们有优惠卡吗？ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

30 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

31 promotions   

促进( promotion的名词复数 )； 提升； 推广； 宣传

参考例句：

• All services or promotions must have an appeal and wide application. 所有服务或促销工作都必须具有吸引力和广泛的适用性。
• He promptly directed the highest promotions and decorations for General MacArthur. 他授予麦克阿瑟将军以最高的官阶和勋奖。

32 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。