Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | October 26, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 13 M E M B E R F D I C | M E M B E R D I F W O R C E S T E R P U B L I C M A R K E T A T K E L L E Y S Q U A R E 2 7 8 P A R K A V E | 3 1 5 M A I N S T R E E T You've worked hard for your business. That's why at Country Bank, we work hard to help it succeed. Whatever your business banking needs, we're here for you with smart banking products, lending expertise, and personal guidance. We'd be honored to be your bank. Visit countrybank.com/business to learn more. W E M A K E I T TO HELP YOURS THRIVE. our business part of an area." Not every Central Massachusetts community comes close to its allotment. New Braintree, Royalston and Sher- born each have a single active license, according to the state's Alcoholic Bev- erages Control Commission. Lancaster, with more than 8,000 residents, has two. Among Massachusetts cities and towns without a cap, Worcester stands out as having the largest population, by far. e next closest is Cambridge, and most are smaller communities on Cape Cod or the Berkshires, where tourism can bring far greater demand for restau- rants than local year-round populations could support. Limited licenses selling for $455K Boston is its own case, not only by law but also in terms of how much demand exists for such a finite number of licenses in a growing and prosper- ous city. Boston has roughly 1,200 on-prem- ise licenses, but the number has re- mained virtually unchanged since 1933 – the year prohibition ended – said Eric Kurss, a restaurant consultant and faculty member at Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration. "It's definitely outdated, and there needs to be some kind of change," Kurss said. Doyle's, a bar that lasted more than a century in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood before closing in 2019, perfectly illustrates the sky-high demand for the city's limited liquor licenses. Doyle's ended up selling its license for $455,000 to the steakhouse chain Davio's for a planned location in the Seaport District, according to e Boston Globe. e Massachusetts Restaurant Asso- ciation doesn't advocate for changing the state's liquor license system in any way. e group is in a potentially hard place: if it pushes to raise caps or abolish them altogether, those restaurateurs who've paid six figures for a license did so for something now essentially worthless. Keeping the buzz in a pandemic Restaurants, bars and breweries tend to have an outsized importance in a community's economy: Even though they might not create the economic output of an industry like manufacturing or the high-salaried employment of health care or higher education, they can be a major draw of visitors and potential new residents and businesses when a city is known for a great restaurant scene or an impressive collection of cra breweries. at's all been thrown into disarray by the pandemic. e Massachusetts Restaurant Association estimates almost a quarter of all eateries, from coffee houses to steakhouses, have closed, thanks at least in large part to the state's strict guidelines on indoor gatherings. Luz, the head of the association, is not optimistic restaurants will be in a better place any time soon. "We're extremely fearful entering winter," he said. "Especially if there's no help from the federal government, at the very least a second round of PPP," he added, referring to the Paycheck Protection Program, which helped keep many small employers afloat. Kurss is more optimistic. People have been gathering for coffee or beer for hundreds of years, he said – through pandemics and wars. "I don't see that stopping," he said, imagining restaurateurs will find ways of making their business work the same way they have before. "I don't know exactly what a new normal will look like. I don't think anyone does," Kurss said. "But people will find new ways of finding success." The Boynton set up tents in its rear parking lof off Highland Street in Worcester for outdoor dining. PHOTO | GRANT WELKER W

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