Lviv restaurants are closing en masse due to mobilization and outflow of IDPs – Forbes
29 November 2024 14:22
Lviv is experiencing a massive closure of restaurants – about 50 establishments have closed since the summer of 2024. This is reported by Forbes Ukraine, based on data from restaurateurs and industry analysts, reports "Komersant Ukrainian".
Yurko Nazaruk, co-owner of the !Fest holding, posted a list of closing restaurants on Facebook. He is pessimistic about the situation, noting:
“After winter, there will be definitely more. The entire service and hospitality sector is falling. There will be a lot of closures and layoffs. And this is in Lviv.”
Among the reasons he cites are lack of staff, lack of customers, curfews, and declining profits.
Olha Nasonova, director of the Restaurants of Ukraine analytical center, specifies the main factors behind the drop in demand: the departure of internally displaced persons and increased mobilization since May 2024.
“There are fewer IDPs and tourists in the city, and citizens leave home less often,”
– she notes.
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Some restaurateurs are moving their businesses to residential areas, where, in their words,
“rent is cheaper and people are less afraid to walk down the street.”
An illustrative case is the closure of Supkultura, where, according to owner Lidia Bahovska, 70% of regular customers disappeared in 2024. She notes:
“Until April 2024, we were losing money. Then we realized that it was the end,”
– she says.
An additional factor was a 30% increase in rent after the full-scale invasion began. Nazar Bereza, head of the Open and Rebro chains, spoke about a 50% rent increase in February 2024.
Experts suggest various ways to save the industry: from lower prices and loyalty programs to focusing on retaining existing customers instead of complex marketing strategies. However, at the moment, the forecasts for the future for Lviv restaurateurs are mostly pessimistic.
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