Texas ranks second in the nation for the most businesses that have closed since March, a study has found. Only California had more permanent closures in the second quarter of 2020, according to Yelp study.
Among large cities, Dallas and Houston were in the top 10 list of most-closed businesses, Yelp said. Dallas was fifth and Houston right behind at sixth.
Nationally, the restaurant and retail industries were among the hardest hit, the study found. As of July 10, 26,160 restaurants had closed, increasing by 2,179 since June 15. About 60% of those were permanently closed.
Bars and nightclubs had “an especially high closure rate,” Yelp noted, although lawyers and accountants have been less affected by COVID-19. There were only 840 law offices closed and 294 accounting firms nationally, Yelp found.
Also faring relatively well are web design companies, with only 402 closures and graphic design with 308 nationally. Health care, counseling, mental health and education are also experiencing lower rates of closure.
Some industries that actually spiked during the COVID-19 shutdown, such as pet adoptions and cannabis, are now returning to normal as people return to work, Yelp said. However, a few industries such as bike rentals, guns and ammo, gardening, hiking, and outdoor gear have been able to sustain the COVID-19 jump even as the economy thaws.
The big hit to the economy came in March, with widespread shutdowns across the board, Yelp reported. Then came the second wave.
“Many businesses that eagerly reopened doors in June were forced to scale back operations and in some cases even shut down again — a costly action for many small businesses,” the study said.
Texas was one of the states cited in the study as particularly hard hit by the second wave.
“As people began resuming common pre-pandemic activities across states like Florida, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia and specifically frequenting restaurants, bars and nightlife and gyms, a clear spike in COVID-19 cases within those locations quickly followed,” Yelp reported.
