Nearly 3,000 South Florida businesses closed due to the pandemic — some forever

Not every business is listed on the consumer review site Yelp. But of the many South Florida businesses that are, COVID-19 has claimed nearly 3,000.

A total of 2,991 businesses closed in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area between March 1 and July 10, according to a report from Yelp. That number includes temporary and permanent closures.

Of the total closures, 1,949 businesses are marked as permanently closed as of July 10, including 417 restaurants and 285 retail businesses. U.S. Census figures from 2017 — the most recent data available — indicate there were 169,582 businesses in the metro area. Yelp would not say how many South Florida businesses are listed on its site.

Yelp’s report counted businesses that were open and closed on each date. Closure counts were vetted by the company’s analytics team and were signaled by a business owner marking the site as closed.

Nationwide, Yelp’s second-quarter Economic Average report found that the share of businesses closing for good is rising.

While most states have seen a plateau of temporary closures, Florida has started to see an increase again due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.

The Sunshine State had the fourth highest number of business closures in the U.S. since March 1. Close to two-thirds of the state’s 8,600 business closures since then were permanent.

Yelp’s report also found a strong correlation between consumer interest and COVID-19 hot spots in June.

As people resumed pre-pandemic activities, a spike in cases followed, the data show.

Business advocacy groups are brainstorming ways to ensure that temporary closures don’t become permanent, said Joe Zubi, senior vice president of communications for the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

The fast-approaching due date for property taxes is going to be a big issue for firms, Zubi added. Deferring payments or allowing businesses to pay in installments is one potential solution to stave off bankruptcies come November, he said.

Restaurant and retail spaces have by far been the most affected by closures, according to Yelp.

The famed Miami store La Casa de las Guayaberas announced this month it would permanently shut its doors. Cafe La Trova, a popular restaurant in Little Havana, closed indefinitely in late June after a fleeting reopening when the restaurant was “not even breaking even,” said co-owner Julio Cabrera.

“What I feel is until we have a vaccine ready it’s not going to be possible” to reopen, Cabrera said. “We don’t know exactly when we’re going to open again. We have hope that we’ll open again. Hope is the last thing you can lose.”

In the meantime, a bank loan is helping the business survive for at least another five months, he said.

Yelp’s report did find some bright spots.

Consumer interest in supporting Black-owned businesses remained high. Yelp received 2,500,000 searches for Black-owned businesses from May 25 to July 10 compared to 35,000 over the same period last year.

A handful of industries that saw a boost in March and April have been able to maintain those gains during the recovery period.

Bike rentals and maintenance, guns and ammo, nurseries and gardening, hiking and outdoor gear remain popular.

Jose Lara, a manager at the Miami Bike Shop, said the independently-owned business has stayed consistently busy since the pandemic began.

“Nobody wants to stay in the house at this point,” Lara said. “We’re pretty sure interest is going to stay high at least for some time.”

This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 11:21 AM.