Restaurants, offices likely to look different in a post-pandemic world
TAMPA, Fla. - COVID-19 may change your office even before you go back there to work.
“We’ve already had phone calls coming in from our clients wanting to separate employees more,” said Bill Adams of Reimagined Office Furnishings in Tampa. He said COVID-19 may reverse a trend of open workspace with employees in close proximity to one another.
At Datz Restaurant Group, Suzanne Perry admits she doesn’t know what the industry will look like on the other side of COVID-19. “Right now we’re doing 15-20 percent of normal sales,” she explained.
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Datz on S. MacDill Ave. has a small tent up, delivering food to people who pull up in their cars. The dining rooms of restaurants were closed by the governor weeks ago.
Perry isn’t sure how far apart the tables will be when they reopen. She can only guess.“Six feet is probably maintainable, but I don’t know. I don’t know how that’s going to look.”
She predicts that small plates and tapas may not be as popular on the other side of the pandemic.
“I really expect that trend to completely change when this is over,” Perry said. “I think people are going to want to maintain their own individual plate. There will be less sharing off other people’s plates for sure.”
It’s still unclear when restaurants and offices will reopen, but if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, it’s beginning to illuminate what the post-corona reality might look like.
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