Open Tables with Danny Meyer: COVID-19 Cripples the Restaurant Industry

GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

GZERO Media

International Relations, Government, Foreign Policy, Gzero World, News Commentary, Trump, News, Global Economy, Geopolitics, Politics, Ian Bremmer

4.6 • 684 Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2020

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating economic impact globally, few industries have been as hard hit as restaurants and hospitality. This week, famed restaurateur Danny Meyer, the CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group and founder of Shake Shack, discusses the toll coronavirus has taken on his own business, his decision to let go 80% of his workforce and the dimming prospects of survival for many restaurants in America, including some of his own.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The human toll of coronavirus has been devastating, and while the loss of life is, of course, the
0:07.2	greatest tragedy, industries around the globe have also screeched to a halt. The restaurant industry,
0:12.5	in particular, has been crippled by government-en-forced closings, and right now countless
0:16.1	servers and bartenders and kitchen staff are out of work trying to figure out how to make next month's rent.
0:22.3	Many of our neighborhood jewels that have closed temporarily will never open.
0:26.8	Hello and welcome to the GZero World podcast.
0:29.8	And here you'll find extended versions of the interviews from my show on public television.
0:35.0	On today, I speak to restaurateur Danny Meyer, who as CEO of the Union Square
0:40.0	Hospitality Group, has founded some of the most successful restaurants in New York City.
0:44.6	He also came up with a little fast casual joint you may have heard of called Shake Shack.
0:48.8	Let's get to it.
1:03.0	Danny Meyer, head of the Union Square Hospitality Group and founder of a little place you might have heard of called Shake Shack.
1:04.0	So good to be with you, Danny.
1:05.6	Hi, Ian.
1:06.5	So, I mean, so much to talk about.
1:08.6	None of it easy right now.
1:10.2	I want to start big picture.
1:11.7	Estimates I'm hearing latest that's going to cost your industry $225 billion over the next three months alone.
1:21.4	How do you even wrap your head around that?
1:25.1	How are you thinking about the impact on restaurants right now?
1:28.6	I am having an impossible time wrapping my head around almost any number I hear or read about
1:36.3	on a daily basis.
	...

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