CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — While restaurant closures may seem to be a rapid trend in the Coastal Bend, that is not the whole story.
According to the Chief of Public Affairs at the Texas Restaurant Association, Kelsey Erickson Streufert, kicking off the new year with a major chain restaurant closure this is not an uncommon thing to see.
"We finally got over that holiday season, which is such a critical time," Streufert said. "Sometimes that really sustains restaurants and keeps them going at least through the end of the year. And then January comes and they have to really take a sober look at things, and decide what's best for you know their business, for their families. So it's natural to see some churn right now."
While this may be natural to see this time of year, the bigger question is: Why are we seeing even the larger food chains going through such hardships?
"There's always sort of these hyper local factors that impact the restaurant industry," Streufert said. "Because our industry is so community based, so local in nature. Even when you're talking about a global chain right, it's location in a community is going to have very hyper local impacts. That's just the nature of the business."
She also mentioned additional factors to take into consideration about recent restaurant closures.
"Food costs are still up 20 to 25 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels," Streufert said. "Wages are up 30 percent compared to 2019, And even with those higher wages, it's still a real challenge to find enough workers to meet the consumer demands."
Kelsey explained the establishment growth here in Corpus Christi that dates back from 2012 until 2022. The number of establishments in private food services have jumped from 836 in 2012 to 986 in 2022.
"Overall, the Corpus bend restaurant economy has grown significantly in recent years. Now it's sort of plateauing in terms of the net number. And I think what we will see next year is we will get back to some slow but steady growth which is exciting as we look ahead."
President of the Coastal Bend Chapter of the Texas Restaurant Association and owner of Merida's Tapas and Cantina, May Mendoza, said restaurant owners in our area are banding together to survive the hard times
"We have noticed that their have been some challenges but we've been working through it," Mendoza said. "We've been supporting each other, giving each other ideas."
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