Yum's KFC closes dining rooms at company-owned restaurants in … – Reuters

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By Hilary Russ
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NEW YORK (Reuters) – The fried rooster chain KFC has closed eating rooms in corporate-owned shops in Florida due to the escalation in coronavirus instances within the state, in line with a letter seen by Reuters.
The letter, from KFC U.S. Chief Working Officer Monica Rothgery to franchisees on Monday, mentioned its personal Florida eating places would function solely drive-thru and prompt owner-operators think about doing the identical in “scorching spots” the place new instances are surging, together with Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.
“This steering is a part of our continued efforts to prioritize the well being of our staff members, clients, and the communities the place they reside and work,” the corporate mentioned in an announcement.
KFC, a unit of Yum! Manufacturers YUM.N, has 40 firm shops in Florida. It mentioned solely about 5% of KFC’s U.S. eating places have opened dine-in seating.
Florida recorded greater than 12,600 new coronavirus instances on Monday, its second-highest every day complete because the outbreak started, coinciding with the state’s try and revive tourism and entice guests to the lately reopened Disney World.
With eating places among the many hardest-hit sectors economically, some impartial eating places and smaller chains have sought to reopen eating rooms as shortly as allowed, with additional security measures in place.
However quick meals giants haven’t been in such a rush as a result of their drive-thru gross sales have principally made up for misplaced walk-in enterprise in the course of the pandemic.
Buyer transactions at main quick-service chains had been 9% decrease within the week ended July 5 in contrast with the identical interval the earlier 12 months. That’s an enchancment over the 13% year-over-year drop from the prior week, knowledge supplier the NPD Group Inc mentioned on Monday.
Against this, full-service sit-down eating places nonetheless had 30% fewer transactions than the earlier 12 months, NPD discovered.
Earlier this month, McDonald’s Corp MCD.N delayed reopening eating rooms as states enacted new restrictions, the Wall Road Journal reported.
Reporting by Hilary Russ; Modifying by Chris Reese and Tom Brown
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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