With United States COVID-19 case numbers lower than they have been at many points, and with the omicron surge in the rearview mirror, businesses are returning their focus to in-person occasions.
Restaurant and entertainment chain Dave & Buster’s, for one, announced Wednesday (April 6) that it is acquiring Main Event Entertainment, a 50-location indoor entertainment chain, for $835 million.
“As we have come to know [Main Event CEO] Chris Morris, we have been very impressed by his execution capabilities and focus on profitable growth,” said Dave & Buster’s Board Chair and Interim CEO Kevin Sheehan in a statement. “It is clear Main Event has a strong culture that shares many values in common with our own. We very much look forward to joining these two great teams together.”
Across the hospitality industry, in-person experiences are coming back, with the lifting of pandemic restrictions expanding the business opportunity for indoor venues. According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 66% of the total population is fully vaccinated (not accounting for boosters).
It is however worth noting that, at a time when venues struggle to stay staffed, the lifting of these mandates can also pose challenges, sending case numbers rising and increasing the odds that workers will need to stay home to quarantine. In New York, for instance, where the mandate for indoor venues lifted in early March, cases have been trending upward since the change went into effect.
As restrictions roll back, many restaurants are especially pleased about the removal of mask mandates.
“Where they can, [restaurants are] lifting the mandate for multiple reasons,” Andrew Robbins, CEO of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) customer experience management (CXM) solutions provider Paytronix, told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in a March interview. “One is just sheer empathy for employees, two [is] retaining employees, [and three is] economics.”
Read more: Labor Challenges Stifling Would-Be Restaurant Boom, Paytronix CEO Says
He added that keeping masks on in hot kitchens is “nearly impossible” and that servers’ tips increase by 33% when they are not wearing masks, suggesting that consumers feel closer with the person when they can see their entire face.
Moreover, restaurants are reinvesting in the in-person experience. For instance, many full-service restaurants (FSRs) that relied on QR code menus while contagion concerns were more front-of-mind have been switching back to paper menus to create a more inviting atmosphere.
“If you think about it socially, when you go to a restaurant on a date, you want to interact,” Michele Baker Benesch, president of Menu Men, a company that designs and manufacturers print and digital menus, told PYMNTS in a January interview. “A waiter comes over, you place an order for maybe an appetizer, maybe a glass of wine, but there’s a dialogue between you. When you have a QR code, and you’re just looking at your phone, there’s no dialogue … It puts this weird awkwardness between people versus a total experience.”
See more: Many Restaurant Customers Feel Alienated by QR Code Menus
Additionally, establishments that rely on the in-person experience are coming back. Chuck E. Cheese reopened many of its locations in 2021. Last week, the owner of a McDonald’s in DeSoto County, Mississippi, told The DeSoto Times-Tribune that a new location set to open over the summer would feature a PlayPlace.
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