Have you noticed that bars and restaurants aren't as busy as they once were?
I have too.
And we're not alone.
That's one of the lingering changes since the COVID-19 pandemic, documented by Placer AI.
That's a foot traffic analytics firm.
Their data shows that people are less likely to go out to dinner after 7 p.m.
The pattern, as laid out in Nation's Restaurant News, shows that foot traffic around restaurants at 7pm has moved to about 5pm nationwide.
Yelp is seeing similar trends among restaurant reservations.
In fact, in 2023, 10% of all diners were seated between 2 and 5 p.m.
That's double what it was in 2019.
The amount of diners seated between 4 p.m.
and 6 p.m.
went up from 17% in 2019 to about a quarter in 2023.
And I must admit, I've done all this in recent months.
I'm not sure why all this is happening, but I know of a few things that likely play a role here.
We've seen a ton of these restaurants come back with shorter hours and higher prices.
At the same time, it's been well documented that a good portion of upwardly mobile white-collar workers, you know, the people more likely to absorb these price increases and eat out anyway, have left cities due to COVID-19 restrictions and concerns.
They spread out into suburban areas and small cities and towns around the country.
And many of them are among the percentage of our population who are still working remotely, at least part of the week, which means they're not near most bars and restaurants in a lot of cases.
And then there's the elephant in the room.
Crime is still above pre-pandemic levels.
And with that, I'm not surprised by this data.
And honestly, I think it's another reason why nothing is going back to the way it was anytime soon.
What do you think?
And why are we eating out earlier?
Tell me in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com or email me at jamesbrowntv@gmail.com.
You could also leave me a message at 585-484-0339.
Explore more:
Placer AI’s free dashbord
https://www.placer.ai/the-square/industry-trends
How 6 p.m. became the new 8 p.m. (and breakfast became early lunch)
The pandemic incited seismic changes in the restaurant industry, including and especially digital adoption. One change that's a bit more nuanced is the slight shift in restaurant usage times.
https://www.nrn.com/consumer-trends/how-6-pm-became-new-8-pm-and-breakfast-became-early-lunch
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