Thousands Of Mass. Restaurants Expected To 'Hibernate' This Winter
BOSTON (CBS) - Anthony Caturano opened Prezza in the North End when he was just 25 years old. He named the restaurant after the town his grandmother grew up in. In addition to Prezza, he now owns three other restaurants: Tonno in Gloucester and Wakefield, and the Blue Ox in Lynn. On December 14, he is temporarily shutting down all locations.
He says he's had to lay off 110 employees, explaining, "right now we're just losing money and it's only going to get worse with the limited capacity and all these restrictions and we won't be able to financially last if we continue on the path we are."
Twenty years after opening Prezza, he says the decision to hibernate is not an easy one.
"It's pretty heartbreaking. But I feel we're doing the right thing long-term and short-term for the safety of the customer, the employees and then ultimately we'll be able to reopen and do that when the time is right," said Caturano.
President and CEO of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association Bob Luz is seeing many like Anthony make similar calls.
"We expect this number of hibernations to be in the thousands- not hundreds- before too long," Luz said. He says around 4,000 restaurants in Massachusetts are now closed, accounting for roughly 25% of the state's restaurants.
He expects that number to go up.
"I think it's fairly certain at this point that sadly we're going to see numbers that approach 35-40% of all the restaurants that were here March 1 not being here when we get over to the other side," Luz said. "And that is just heartbreaking because every single restaurant is an incredible story and affects so many people in that community."
