WEBVTT - How can the restaurant industry get back to business? 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.440 Hi everyone, I'm Katie Couric, and welcome to next question. 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:08.880 Remember back just a few months ago, when a nice 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:12.600 Friday evening might be spent at your favorite restaurant, that 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:16.200 neighborhood place where the bartender knows your go to drink, 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:19.400 and when it's busy, you can still count on settling 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:22.439 into a spot at the bar, sitting shoulder to shoulder 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:26.600 with the strangers around you. At the end, happy and full, 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:30.160 you make your way through the lingering crowd, only stopping 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:32.400 to give a little hug to someone you haven't seen 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:35.600 in a while before heading back out into the night air. 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:45.280 It's not easy right to picture that. In our coronavirus 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:50.680 social distancing world, imagining that crowded intimate scene is enough 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:53.960 to send a shiver down your spine as you're parrelling 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:58.160 your hands, which is exactly why the restaurant industry has 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:02.080 become one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. So far, 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:05.559 more than eight million restaurant employees have been laid off, 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:09.280 and by the end of April, the industry had lost 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:13.520 more than eighty billion dollars in sales. But restaurant tour 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:18.400 Danny Meyer says that's not all that's been lost. Restaurants 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:23.160 play such an important part in the emotional fabric of 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:27.720 this country. The month of May, we have graduations, we 0:01:27.840 --> 0:01:32.160 have weddings, and all these things that just feel good 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:35.080 to people to celebrate and where food plays a role, 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:40.600 just aren't happening right now. As we continue to explore 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.080 what life will look like once we begin to get 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.120 back to some sort of normal, I'll be turning to 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:50.080 business leaders and entrepreneurs to find out how they see 0:01:50.320 --> 0:01:55.160 their industries re emerging. And so today a conversation with 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:59.960 Danny Meyer and shake Shack CEO Randy Garuti to explore 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:04.280 my next question, how will the restaurant industry get back 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:13.040 to business. Danny Meyer, who founded shake Shack, is also 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.560 head of one of the country's most prestigious restaurant companies, 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:21.200 the Union Square Hospitality Group, which owns and operates restaurants 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:25.240 and event businesses in Las Vegas, Washington, d C. And 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:30.080 New York, including the famous Union Square Cafe, which he 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:34.280 opened in ninet But on March eighteenth, he had to 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:39.680 lay off two thousand employees, about of the company's total staff, 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:44.840 due to a near complete elimination of revenue. Danny described 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:48.600 that day as the most difficult of his life. Here's 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:52.680 what he told his employees in a video message. We 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:57.120 have laid off more people today then we probably hired 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:02.519 in the first years we've in business. I can't believe 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:05.120 those words have just come out of my mouth. And 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:08.720 we're doing so because we want to be here with you. 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.600 We want to be back in business when that gay comes, 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:16.600 which we can all visualize, when our restaurants and bars 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:21.480 and jazz books and events and ballparks and museums are 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:28.080 back to doing business as normal. Can you tell us 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:31.080 a little bit about the process of making that decision? 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:36.120 I understood, and I still understand that this is not 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:39.080 the thing that's going to end the world. It just isn't. 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:42.880 And unless you disagree with me, and then you say, 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:44.600 all right, if that's the case, it's going to be 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.120 over at a certain point. And when it's over, the 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:52.400 question will be who were you during the time and 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:58.600 what decisions did you make? Often incredibly distasteful and unpleasant decisions, 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:02.000 But what decisions did you during that time that will 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:06.960 set you up best two re emerge even stronger than 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.400 you went into this thing. The reason that was such 0:04:09.520 --> 0:04:13.200 an incredibly tough day, and by the way, in my company, 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:16.320 Union Square Hospitality Group, there have been two of those days, 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:20.400 because there came a point when we really really hoped 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:23.560 we could get back into business sooner and create some 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.840 revenue sooner. And once we realize that New York at 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.599 that point was only getting more and more dangerous, we 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:32.320 actually had to go through a second round of cuts, 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:36.200 which I deeply hope is the last time we will 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.440 ever have to do that. But on on the date 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:42.920 you just said we had employees at Union Square Hospitality Group, 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:48.000 today we have seventy. And once we made that decision, 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:51.760 which is that the only responsible thing to do if 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.960 you truly care about people, is to set yourself up 0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:57.719 to be able to re employ them when it's safe 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.760 to do so, then you have to make sure that 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:03.760 your business doesn't go out of business. It was almost 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:08.680 a business version of chemotherapy, because in order to survive, 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:10.919 you had to do something that almost kills you in 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:15.200 the meantime, and at this point, the best thing we 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:19.760 can do is stay alive. The second thing is stay safe, 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.160 and the third thing is stay connected. And we've been 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:26.120 trying like crazy to just keep those three things in 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.599 our mind in the belief that when we do those things, 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:32.640 we will be in a position to do the next 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:36.320 three things. And the next three things are hopefully benefit 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:42.360 from some advances in science, whether it be testing or 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:48.560 medication or ultimately a vaccine. So science um. And then 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:53.880 secondly to UH to hopefully create the type of safety 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:59.200 structures so that people gradually feel safer uh actually and 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:02.160 emotionally to come back to work and to go out 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:04.279 to eating in And if we can do those things, 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:06.919 I really trust will be will be okay. On the 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:11.200 other end, in the meantime, Danny is donating his own 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:14.839 salary and the pay cuts from his executive staff to 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.440 an employee relief fund set up for laid off workers. 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:22.040 He says he hopes to rehire all those who are 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:25.479 let go as soon as possible, but to get to 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.320 that point safely, his restaurants, if not the industry as 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.679 a whole, will have to change, at least for now. 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:35.839 I would say that what we're going through right now 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:40.760 is probably the greatest experiment in leadership agility that this 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:45.400 planet has ever seen. Every day requires each of us, 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.920 in in every leadership role, to pivot. There's generally a 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:54.640 spirit of collegiality, and everybody is really trying to figure 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.760 out the same kind of answers, which is, what the 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.880 hell do we do right now? And you know, what 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:03.960 are the kinds of things that we can do safely 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:06.440 to bring our team back as quickly as possible. I'm 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:09.960 not talking primarily about full service restaurants. I'm talking about 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.800 the kind of restaurants where you've got a host in 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:16.440 a maitre d and bartenders and you've got so many 0:07:16.640 --> 0:07:18.760 as pouring wine and they don't know how to pour 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:22.000 wine from six ft away without throwing the wine into 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:25.520 somebody's glass. And you talk about waiters and waitresses. His 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:30.440 job it is to clear tables and touch people's glasses 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.520 and touch people's napkins while they're clearing them. And you 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:36.560 talk about co checking and getting a cod check and 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.920 handing your coat to someone else, and you know, giving 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:42.920 your credit card to somebody when you don't want anyone 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.560 to touch your credit card. The best judgment I have 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:50.320 is that once there's a vaccine, you'll start to see 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.040 a lot more people coming back. They'll probably start with 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:57.360 being younger people, because let's face it, younger people statistically 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:02.840 and emotionally have felt a little bit less endangered than 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:05.680 people who are, let's say, north of sixty years old, 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.520 and and we'll be we'll be adjusting and making those 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:11.880 adjustments as well to make it feel as safe as 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:15.160 we possibly can. The sad thing, though, is that, unlike 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:18.600 after nine eleven, where there was pre existing technology of 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:22.840 metal detectors that just needed to be deployed at office 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:28.280 buildings and ballparks and Disneyland and obviously at airports, there 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.040 is no virus detector that we have so far, and 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:34.840 so it's going to take a while before the public 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:38.079 at large feel safe congregated. And the other thing I'll 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:42.520 say is this another great advantage that I feel very 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.680 happy about for shake Shack is that shake Shack is 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:49.679 now proving that you can have no tables in your 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:52.959 dining room, which is the case today, and you can 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:58.360 still create revenue. If you ask a full service restaurant 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:03.120 two make money with fift of their tables removed, because 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:06.319 that's the safety protocol. Not only will it not feel 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:09.319 great in there, but the restaurant is actually going to 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:13.200 be at a financial disadvantage relative to just being closed. 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.360 So what do you do about that? Danny? I mean 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:21.400 that sounds pretty bleak. It is bleak, except that it 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:24.640 gets back to this question of agility. And I think 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:28.120 that the great leaders of this minute, the future is now, 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.440 it's it's not tomorrow, and it's not six months from now. 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:35.120 The great leaders are going to say, I need to 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:38.280 create a new business scenario. And the reason I'm on 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:43.440 this team is that my leaders believe that I am 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:48.600 emotionally and intellectually agile enough to to work and come 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:51.520 up with a new business scenario. The kind of people 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:53.600 who say that's not how we do it around here 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:56.800 are not going to succeed in this environment at all. 0:09:56.880 --> 0:10:00.400 So in our industry, the obvious two things people are 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.760 talking about in the full service business our delivery and 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:07.000 pick up. And I'm challenging our teams at Union Square 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:11.160 Hospitality Group every single day to ask yourself, what does 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:14.680 that word delivery mean? All right? Does it have to 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:18.200 mean all of the big delivery aggregators where the person 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:20.800 picking up the food is someone who's never been to 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:25.200 your restaurant and the apartment that they're delivering to is 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:28.000 someone they don't know? What if? What if? Delivery for 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:31.680 Union Square Hospitality Group meant something much more akin to 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:35.079 house calls like we used to get in the old 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:37.480 days from doctors. What if we could take a big 0:10:37.520 --> 0:10:40.400 city and make it smaller, and what if the person 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:44.160 who delivered your food is someone who we rehired. Maybe 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:47.160 it's a cook, maybe it's a waiter, and maybe they 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.160 have a personal connection. What if delivery was a tight 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:53.040 zone just like it like it used to be in 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:59.840 the old days, where we're actually we're building hospitality experiences 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:03.880 and relationships even though we're not creating the greatest you know, 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:06.840 distance for all of our delivery. Now that's a different 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:10.240 thing that we face. I think shake Shacks doing exactly 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:13.520 the right thing to make a shock Burger available on 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:17.559 any platform that exists. When you talk Danny to just 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:19.840 as a follow up to some of your friends in 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:21.840 the restaurant business, I mean, what are some of the 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:28.960 most innovative, interesting ideas that you've heard, uh to to 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:32.600 fill out this time period between now and a vaccine 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:36.120 or now when when things will feel kind of back 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:40.440 to normal hopefully. Well, we're seeing a lot of exciting things. Um. 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:43.720 One of the ones that I like the most is 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:49.480 the notion of restaurants creating a subscription model where every 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:53.240 Thursday or every you know, pick a day of the week. 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:56.719 You could pick your favorite seven restaurants, you pick your 0:11:56.720 --> 0:12:00.440 favorite fifty restaurants. But you can subscribe that on a 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.280 given day of the week, that restaurant will deliver to 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:08.320 you either a market basket of ingredients with recipes with 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:10.680 which you can cook, you can get on FaceTime with 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:15.160 the chef, and you know, get personalized instructions. You trust 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:18.520 how Grammercy Tavern sources its fish or its meat, which 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.439 or it's vegetables, which helps all of our suppliers, which 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:24.000 is a really important thing. So I love that model. 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:27.280 I also love the model which says, um, tell us, 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:29.559 how many people are going to be sitting at your 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:34.439 family table on Tuesday night, and and we're going to 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:36.559 cook for you, and and this is what it is. 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:40.920 Restaurants do not need to have the same experience. You know, 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:44.920 if if Katie, if if you and Muellner, and Autrey 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:46.559 and I went out to dinner, the four of us 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:50.840 would invariably order four different appetizers and four different main courses. 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:53.240 We'd all want to have the experience of trying a 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:55.880 little bit of this and that. That's different right now, 0:12:56.000 --> 0:13:00.440 I think family meal means the restaurant now has the 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:03.800 opportunity to pare down its offerings, which it's going to 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:07.160 need to do to be profitable, and just say, trust us, 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:10.040 you know you love this restaurant. We're doing roast chicken 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:12.240 on Tuesday night. Would you guys like that for your 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:15.240 family of six or whatever? So I love that kind 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.800 of thing. I also love UM. Something that we've been 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:23.120 doing at Union Square Hospitality Group is we've been conducting 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.600 online auctions and we've been contributing all the money to 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:32.080 our to our Hugs fund UM and we're finding experiences 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.360 are selling. We're finding that wine is selling in interesting 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:38.640 ways because now we're able to to sell wine off premise, 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:41.439 which we were not able to do before this. So 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.880 what's great is some of these things are gonna stick 0:13:45.160 --> 0:13:48.760 even after this is over. And I think that that 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.960 if we add those to our pre existing business model, 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:54.400 we could we could emerge from this in a much 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:56.679 stronger place even than we went into it. But we're 0:13:56.679 --> 0:14:02.000 gonna have to be patient. When we come back, we'll 0:14:02.040 --> 0:14:05.640 talk with Danny Meyer and Shake Shack CEO Randy Garudi 0:14:06.080 --> 0:14:21.680 about that ten million dollars small business loan in two 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:24.280 thousand one, shake Shack was nothing more than a hot 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.680 dog cart inside Madison Square Park in New York City, 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:31.240 but by two thousand four Danny Meyer opened its first 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:36.240 permanent location inside that same park and expanded the menu 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:40.520 to include its signature burgers, fries, and shakes. By two 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.120 thousand fifteen, Shake Shack was a national chain and a 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:48.600 publicly traded company with hundreds of locations around the country 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:53.400 and the world. After COVID hit, some shake Shacks closed, 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:58.240 particularly the international spots and airport locations, but a lot 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:01.000 of them have been able to stay in, which has 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:05.560 required some major flexibility on the part of CEO Randy Garudi, 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:11.400 and he says the leadership of his national teams we 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:16.480 have watched literally um not our executive team pushed down, 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:20.320 although we have said the standards of safety, we need 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:22.360 to stay open so that we can employ our team. 0:15:22.400 --> 0:15:24.120 Here's how we're going to take care of our team. 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:27.280 But you tell us how and I have just just 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:29.720 blown away every day and you're following it on people's 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:34.120 Instagrams then posting shape Jack turning into a drive through, Katie. 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:35.720 We've never had a drive through. We don't have a 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:39.000 drive through, but we've got, I don't know, fortify them 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:42.160 around the country right now that our teams just figured 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:44.760 out how to do. We figured out how to sell 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:49.480 Hamburgers to your front door, delivered via FedEx with a 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:53.400 new partner um and constantly thinking about how do we 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:55.680 work six ft away from each other, how do we 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:59.200 keep delivery drivers safe and away from each other, which 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:02.000 is a great challenge, and yet how do we slowly 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:05.720 build back these sales. There's some shake Shacks that today, 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:08.200 in the last couple of weeks have actually done more 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:11.440 sales than they did last year during this time. That 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.440 blows my mind. And it's only because of the entrepreneurial 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:17.160 spirit of this team. Uh, they gotta keep going. They're 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:20.040 gonna keep defining how we're going to get out of 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:23.000 this and and that's the most exciting thing. And that's 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.400 where on the other side of this, we've already started 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:28.920 saying we're gonna think about shake Shacks differently. We're gonna 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.640 be that community gathering place more than we've ever been, 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:35.480 because without question, I believe humans need to gather with 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:37.920 humans and as soon as we're allowed at some level, 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.520 we're gonna do it. And Shake Shack is going to 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.800 be a place they choose. But in the meantime, we've 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:45.800 got to be more convenient, we've got to be safer, 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:48.240 and no matter how you want it, we've got to 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:49.920 provide that our team is going to be the ones 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:52.240 to answer that, and they're doing that now. You know, 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.160 I don't want to get too in the weeds with this, 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.080 but I know you had some pushback on social media 0:16:57.200 --> 0:16:59.840 Danny when well, when we I don't know who wants 0:16:59.880 --> 0:17:03.120 to take this or Randy, when shake Shack received a 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:05.960 ten million dollar P P P loan which has since 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:10.200 been returned. You said, Danny that you understand the frustration, 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:15.600 but you believe that the criticism was was really misdirected. Danny, 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.680 mind if I take that too, because I don't mind 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:23.120 at all. I'll look, I'll start Katie. We had, as 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:26.240 every government opportunity has been presented, the p p P 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:31.280 loans immediately to us became an opportunity to keep more 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:34.439 of our team employed for a longer period. Uh No 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:38.000 one during that time imagined that the very small businesses 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.760 who was intended for would not be able to be 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.399 getting the money. As soon as we received the money 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:46.840 that we applied for, under the terms of the loan. 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:50.600 You started to hear those those stories you started here, 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:53.359 the smallest businesses couldn't get it, if you didn't have 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:56.160 a banking relationship, you couldn't get it. And and we 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:58.480 went through that very quickly, and Danny and I and 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:00.560 our teams we got on the phone that weekend and 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:03.440 we said, this isn't right, This wasn't in turn meant 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.400 for us. Um, we're gonna give it back, and we're 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:09.520 gonna lead a national conversation. And shake Check was the 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:13.680 first company to give it back, to explain why we 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:16.480 thought it was appropriate in the first place, and how 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.800 we were giving it back immediately. And I believe that 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:23.399 that move caused a national conversation that has caused so 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.440 many other companies that also give it back but improve 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.600 the terms of the next round of funding, which is 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.560 now in playing. You're already hearing as challenging as it 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:35.400 is still for so many it has gone so far, 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:39.359 and we Danny and I's inboxes have been filled with 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.919 facts from small business owners saying thank you for leading us, 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:46.040 thank you for starting this conversation. It was not easy. 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:48.840 There's a lot of questions about it, and we feel 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:51.399 incredibly proud of the leadership role we were able to 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.399 play in this moment. Danny, you're on the state advisory 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:59.160 group that will guide the reopening of New York So 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:01.680 can you us tell us a little bit about that 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:04.640 and how that's going to work, and how you're coordinating 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:08.400 and some of the key leaders you're talking to. Well, 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:11.639 I wish I could, Katie. I'm also trying to do 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:15.680 it for New York City NYC and Company as well. Um. 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:20.399 I was very happy to answer the call when Governor 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:23.719 Cuomo's team said, will you be one of a hundred 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:28.520 people on the committee? I think it's called Onward New York, 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:31.159 and it's it's for all of New York State, and 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:33.920 I think I'm one of probably of the hundred people 0:19:33.960 --> 0:19:36.480 on the committee, probably six of us come from the 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:39.600 restaurant industry. So we haven't had a meeting yet. I 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:44.080 think this was announced in anticipation of of figuring out 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:47.359 how this group would actually provide input. I don't know 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:50.960 whether it's going to be industry by industry, whether it 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:56.879 might be the cultural institutions, the sports institutions, you know, uh, finance, 0:19:57.400 --> 0:20:01.480 real estate, whatever, whatever. There's lots and lots of different aspects. 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:04.359 What I will say is that while I have not 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:08.480 been asked any questions yet, um, I'm beginning to ask 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:11.879 a lot of the questions myself. And one thing we 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:14.560 know about this is that this impacts all of us. 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:17.320 This rising tide is going to either lift or drop 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:20.880 all boats. And so the one thing I do want 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:22.600 to do is make it as clear as I can 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.719 that I want to be a vehicle or a vessel 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:31.680 through which other restaurateurs can share their thoughts, their ideas. 0:20:32.600 --> 0:20:34.239 We all know what our fears are. I don't need 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:36.240 a whole lot of help on that. It's it's it's 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:39.800 been pretty bleak, But I think that getting to the 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:43.399 point that that our industry can make the changes it needs, 0:20:43.520 --> 0:20:46.760 and we're gonna need some governmental help on that so 0:20:46.840 --> 0:20:51.240 that we can get reopened. You know, the funding that 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:55.200 you were talking to Randy about actually doesn't even work 0:20:55.320 --> 0:21:00.320 for most restaurants. So with all the hullabaloo, uh, believe 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:03.280 it or not, I've as much as I've heard positive 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:08.400 response uh from people saying what a great decision shake 0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:12.600 Shack made to lead the way. I've heard from restaurateurs 0:21:12.760 --> 0:21:16.159 who got the funds and who said why are you 0:21:16.240 --> 0:21:20.440 out there moralizing and preventing us, uh, you know, from 0:21:20.520 --> 0:21:24.080 using our funds without being embarrassed about it. And I've 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:27.159 also heard from restaurateurs who said, we wish we had 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:29.720 had a banking relationships so we could have gotten them. 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:32.080 But guess what, Katie, I've also heard from a ton 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:35.480 of people who said, these funds don't work anyway for 0:21:35.600 --> 0:21:40.480 restaurants because it is a nonforgivable loan for which you're 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:44.199 on the hook if you do not rehire the proponerance 0:21:44.240 --> 0:21:47.919 of your team by June, and the full service restaurant 0:21:47.920 --> 0:21:50.439 industry will not be ready to rehire the proponance of 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:54.160 their team by June. And so one of the things 0:21:54.200 --> 0:21:57.119 I want to do on this commission. Now that's a 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:00.720 federal law, but I also think that there are state opportunities. 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:04.560 They can be very very helpful regulatory wise, and also 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:09.040 some of the taxation aspects as well as some of 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:12.760 the landlord kind of controls that happened staywide. So I'll 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:15.000 be taking in as many good as ideas as I 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:18.520 can and then try faithfully to communicate those to the 0:22:18.880 --> 0:22:22.439 to the advisory committee. You know, I'm just thinking, just 0:22:22.680 --> 0:22:25.520 hearing you guys, for all the New Yorkers who have 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:28.639 loved your restaurants for many years, who have found so 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:33.560 much joy and community, not to mention great food. Um, 0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:36.960 can can people just I know their gift cards? For example, 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:39.600 a friend of mine sent over a dinner we're in 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:42.359 East Hampton from a local restaurant because she wanted to 0:22:42.440 --> 0:22:46.840 support that restaurant. UM. I guess that's just one example. 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:50.600 But are there other things that people can do to 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:54.640 help to help rise those boats? If you will, Danny, 0:22:54.960 --> 0:22:58.800 There's two things I would say, Katie. One is continue 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:03.560 to talk about the importance that restaurants play in your 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:07.560 life and and in the economic life of this country. 0:23:07.359 --> 0:23:11.600 I think that until this moment, that the vast majority 0:23:11.680 --> 0:23:14.240 of Americans. I don't say this in a in a 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:18.320 negative way, but I just don't think they understood how 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:22.160 impactful restaurants are to the overall economy of the country. 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:27.920 There are six sixty thousand restaurants in America, second largest 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:32.119 employer next to government. I don't know that the average 0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:35.840 American knew that. I think that because there's so many 0:23:35.960 --> 0:23:38.320 were not looked at like the auto industry or like 0:23:38.359 --> 0:23:40.520 the airline industry, where you can kind of get your 0:23:40.600 --> 0:23:43.439 arms around it so be be aware of it. And 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:47.880 I think that that that has risen to the national conversation. 0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:52.800 When a restaurant goes out of business, it it impacts 0:23:52.800 --> 0:23:55.600 the economy in a massive way. And it's it's the 0:23:55.600 --> 0:24:00.200 people who work there. It is people not buying food 0:24:00.400 --> 0:24:04.879 at a certain point um from their suppliers or beverages. 0:24:05.520 --> 0:24:10.040 There are societal issues as well. When a restaurant is closed, 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:13.600 your neighborhood feels different. Just think about when you've walked 0:24:13.600 --> 0:24:16.359 by a closed restaurant. It doesn't feel as good, doesn't 0:24:16.400 --> 0:24:19.000 feel as safe. And then I would also say that 0:24:19.520 --> 0:24:24.720 restaurants play such an important part in the emotional fabric 0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:27.800