Support Your Local Restaurants the Right Way

Everyone has that favorite mom-and-pop restaurant. It’s the one that has the baked ziti that reminds you so much of how your grandma used to make it. Or knows exactly what you want and how you want it the moment you walk through the door. It almost feels like home, and if it were to suddenly disappear, it would leave a hole in your heart, and probably your stomach, too.

But those favorite little food joints – whether a quaint little bistro, an out-of-the-way diner, or the prototypical hole-in-the-wall that makes a carne asada burrito like no other – are on the endangered species list. And that makes it more important than ever to support your local restaurants the right way, because the alternative is losing them forever. What’s “the right way,” you ask? Let your local champions here at www.localcart.dmv.com explain.

Grim Restaurant Statistics

Rather than mincing words, let’s just jump head first into the statistics pool:

• 68% of full-service restaurants are independently owned
• Profit margins in restaurants average 3-5%
• Delivery app fees on restaurants average 30% of the total
• At the close of Q2 ‘20, average restaurant revenues were down 40% year-over-year

You don’t have to be a mathematician to see that those figures don’t work in a restaurant’s favor. The fact of the matter is, despite the growing support behind the buy local movement, restaurants continue to struggle.

That brings us back to supporting local restaurants the right way. When it comes to the popular food delivery apps, what might have looked like the cavalry to mom-and-pop restaurants at the beginning of the pandemic has really turned out to be dead weight on boats already taking on water. Many operators are actually losing money by using the delivery services, but don’t realize what’s happening until they’ve already signed a contract.

Simply put, independent restaurants are facing an extremely tough road ahead, with as many as 85% closing permanently by the end of 2020 according to some estimates. Food delivery apps are strangling local eateries that were already gasping for air.

Local Simple

Thankfully, there’s an easy solution that will actually help mom-and-pop restaurants rather than hurt them. Remember how you used to pick up the phone and call in an order to your favorite pizza joint? It was simple and foolproof. You could go pick up the pizza in 30 minutes or so and pay when you get there, or maybe they would deliver it to you for a few extra dollars.

Believe it or not, that option still exists. Even better, LocalCart is the modern version of that simple solution. Browse through the online menus to your favorite places, pick one that seems to hit the spot, and place your order. Pick it up in a few minutes or, if they offer delivery, you don’t even have to find your car keys. There’s no 30% fee, you’re helping your favorite restaurants when they need it most and, perhaps most importantly, you still get to enjoy that amazing baked ziti. With LocalCart, everyone wins.

Lastly...

As a quick aside, we wanted to ask for your opinion. Looking a bit down the road, if you had to choose, would you prefer getlocalcart.com™or ilocalcart.com™as our domain? Feel free to leave your response as a comment. The LocalCart team thanks you in advance!