RESTAURANT RESERVATIONS
U.S. restaurant sales dropped 36% in the week
ending March 22, according to consulting firm
The NPD Group, with about 94% of restaurants
operating under some restrictions that week.
Dine-in restaurants like Olive Garden and
Applebee’s reported sales declines of 71%
compared to the same period last year. Fast food
sales fell 34%.
To draw more customers, Restaurant Brands
International — the parent company of Burger
King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons — said it’s
expanding delivery in the U.S. and Canada
and adding curbside pickup to its mobile app
for truckers or walk-up customers who can’t
use the drive-thru windows. The Toronto-
based company also said it’s mailing 15,000
thermometers to its restaurants so employees
can be checked before they begin their shifts.
Meanwhile, OpenTable — an app that normally
lets diners make reservations at 60,000
restaurants worldwide — is getting into the
grocery business. Starting this week, OpenTable
will let people reserve a time to shop at several
California groceries, including Belcampo Meat
Co. OpenTable says it’s making the technology
available for free to groceries and other retailers.
FORD VENTILATORS: Ford is repurposing
an auto parts factory west of Detroit to
start building simple ventilators to treat
coronavirus patients.
The automaker says that starting the week of
April 20, it expects to produce 50,000 ventilators
in 100 days. The plant in Ypsilanti Township,
Michigan, would have the ability to build 30,000
per month after that.