As businesses in the leisure and hospitality industry became affected by the impact of COVID-19, the operators of the popular Usain Bolt Tracks and Records (UBTR) eateries said they have suffered significant losses. This, as earnings plummeted by approximately 90 per cent across their locations in Kingston and Montego Bay.

Responding to questions from the Jamaica Observer’s Sunday Finance, Gary Matalon, director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kingston Live Entertainment (KLE) Group Limited, operators of the popular food establishment, said that the impact to the food and beverage industries worldwide, including theirs, has been significant, with millions of jobs lost and some businesses forced to close. The KLE restaurants trade under the name of world-renowned athletic champion Usain Bolt.

“Where Jamaica is concerned, the impact on the industry has been debilitating. Most casual dining, full-service concepts have been either shut down temporarily or have operated with limited offerings through takeout and delivery. Tracks and Records in Montego Bay was rendered inoperable by the restrictions put in place by the Government. Both the number of people allowed to access the location at any one time and the hours of operations restricted by curfews killed any chance for the business to function.

“Kingston had a similar fate, although through some third-party aggregators, we have been able to offer some amount of delivery as well as takeout business at our Marketplace location,” he said.

Matalon said that as a result, “by the end of March, revenues had been reduced by over 90 per cent”.

He said that with the UBTR restaurants created to provide an experiential customer service-type offering, they have had to adjust to the takeout and delivery style models, which was never a part of the business model, to begin with. He further noted that with the need for the current physical distancing and sanitisation protocols to be observed, the previous gathering of a crowd might not return to normal even in the post-COVID-19 era.

Elaborating on some of the measures engaged, he said, “Before closing the restaurants, we had already eliminated physical menus and replaced them with digital ones. We also removed half of the furniture to allow patrons to sit and enjoy their meals while maintaining safe distances. Many other adjustments have been made and are in place and ready to ensure both customers and team members are safe as we begin with life after lockdown.”

The KLE boss asserted that under the new dispensation, there might be the need for a total re-engineering of the industry to sustainably facilitate the new models, noting occupancy and human resources as two of the biggest cost set to affect the industry.

“On the property side, landlords will either need to work out more favorable arrangements with their tenants or the operators will be forced to identify smaller, less expensive real estate to match the new revenue realities. The full-service model will need to be reworked to operate with less labour and increased efficiencies,“ Matalon reasoned.

Matalon said that based on his hopes going forward, he expects the conditions facing the industry, though gradually improving, to prevail into the foreseeable future. He said that if there is a second wave of the virus, only those restaurants that can withstand the challenges will be the ones likely to survive.

He, therefore, urged industry players to “reposition themselves [to be able to] take advantage of the new opportunities that will undoubtedly emerge as a result of all the changes taking place”.