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Silver Linings of COVID for the Service Industry

April 21, 2021
toasting beer glasses

With the COVID-19 pandemic stretching into its second year, it’s hard to find an industry hit harder than the service industry. Restaurants, bars, and other service industry businesses across the country were forced to close for months on end, which inevitably led to many of them closing permanently. This not only impacted the restaurants and bars themselves as well as their employees, but all of their vendors as well. In other words, COVID resulted in a tremendous ripple effect throughout the service industry and other related industries that unfortunately impacted millions of jobs across the country.

So, has anything positive come from all of this? For example, are looser laws here to stay?

 

COVID Spurred Alcohol To-Go

Before the pandemic, to-go liquor sales were unheard of. Today, 33 states allow them, and Illinois is one of them. With the shut-downs and the severe curtailment of drinking in bars and restaurants, people wanted easier access to alcohol. Grabbing a cocktail to take home became the COVID solution.  Bars and restaurants needed all the help they could get, so states started re-thinking previous restrictions on to-go drinks.

It certainly didn’t compensate for billions of dollars lost in revenue across the industry, but it did at least create a new income stream that hadn’t existed before. And now that the pandemic is finally starting to get better, industry lobbyists are hard at work to make these temporary reprieves from tight regulation permanent.

 

Tough Times Bring Increased Demand for Alcohol

The last time alcohol sales were subject to this much deregulation was at the start of the Great Depression (not too long after Prohibition was repealed). Not surprisingly, Americans want easier access to alcohol during times of crisis. Even though most states likely intended that the measures they enacted would be temporary, it’s not easy to pull back freedoms once they are given.

Since people get used to convenience until it becomes an expectation, rolling things back isn’t likely to be politically popular. And what’s the harm in to-go drinks, really? If no ill effects have been observed, it’s quite possible to-go cocktails will be one of the lasting effects of COVID.

For alcohol servers, it remains to be seen if the public will return to bars and restaurants in droves, or if a decent portion of consumers will prefer continuing to drink in more private settings. For alcohol sellers, it’s unclear if the surge in sales experienced during COVID will continue, and for how long. But for the alcohol industry as a whole, it’s quite possible that COVD will leave behind some silver linings.

 

Stay Informed with BASSET On The Fly

One restriction that hasn’t changed is the restriction on selling or serving alcohol to minors or intoxicated people. Get your On-Premise or Off-Premise BASSET card fast and let BASSET On The Fly keep you up-to-date on whatever you need to know to sell and serve!

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