Restaurants Have Come Back in Boston. Why Not Retail Stores?

As public concern over COVID-19 infection continues to fade into the background in the U.S. and people return to their pre-pandemic routines, cities are still getting back on their feet. A recent feature on Marketplace finds, however, that even as customer foot traffic picks up, the downtown of one major U.S. city is experiencing an uneven rebound with restaurants doing better than ever as retail stores continue to struggle.

Office workers, tourists, construction workers and others have been filling Boston’s downtown across day parts for food, entertainment and opportunities to socialize, according to Marketplace, but shopping in the area has not proven so popular.

The number of restaurants and bars in the area is now 10 percent greater than before the pandemic by the estimate of Michael Nichols, president of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District. The bounce back of adjacent retail continues to lag, however, with twice as many retail vacancies as before the pandemic.

Mr. Nichols said fewer office workers in the downtown area has contributed to the struggles of clothing stores and tailors.

Changing retail real estate trends could also be behind some vacancies. The disruption of the pandemic has led to more retailers being likely to seek short-term leases and more landlords being amenable to granting them.

While restaurants are booming in Boston, not every account of the restaurant industry paints so rosy a post-pandemic picture.

A Restaurant Finance Monitor webinar, reported by Yahoo! Finance, points to New York City restaurants taking a bottom line hit as hybrid work models cut down on office workers in some neighborhoods.