Tourism has almost stopped and most employees stay at home in home offices – the center of Prague has thus emptied. Earnings from window sales are only a fraction of the normal turnover of cafes and restaurants. Gradually, the inevitable – final closure – is approaching.
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The Chamber of Commerce of Prague 1 estimates the main influx of closures in the autumn. “The critical moment will come when the support of various types ends,” says Marek Beneš, vice-president of the chamber. “I estimate it in the autumn of this year and I’m afraid that if the mass tourism does not return, there may be a mass outflow.”
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“Entrepreneurs need to see the light at the end of the tunnel, the concept, the vision and, above all, what will happen after the covid,” he adds.
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It is said that entrepreneurs do not sleep with their windows and food.
Some entrepreneurs have had to give up business now. “It was not realistic to maintain a café with rents in Prague 1,” describes Libka Šafránková, who opened the Swedish ecological café Kikkaffe in the center of Prague two months before the start of the pandemic.
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After two years of preparation for the opening and an investment in the order of millions of crowns, the café did not survive until the beginning of the second wave of coronavirus. The owners decided to close it during the summer break-up, because they expected the measures to tighten again in the autumn.
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Government support did not help to maintain the business much, it made it possible to draw only partial contributions for some employees. “The fundamental problem was that we were not supported by the owners of the premises,” says Libka Šafránková.
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The owner of the Vinograf restaurant, Jan Horešovský, had to close one of his branches permanently. “We survived the first wave, but debts were created there that would not allow the business to come to life in normal operation in the future,” he says. He still maintains the second restaurant. Government compensation accounts for eight percent of the company’s normal turnover, window sales about ten percent.
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“If the restrictions were to last beyond the New Year, I think it will be a finale for basically everyone,” says Jan Horešovský, adding that he is trying to receive all the compensation that the state offers, but according to him they do not work.
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In order to alleviate the situation for entrepreneurs from the center of Prague, the Office of the City District of Prague 1 forgives them at least 30-50% of the rent for six months from 1 January 2021. This discount applies to those tenants of non-residential premises who provide civic amenities and public catering services or operate cultural facilities.
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