Many restaurants will not survive the lockdown phase of the coronavirus pandemic. The Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes chain has shut down for good. Some restaurants will try to reopen but not last very long. Other small businesses, such as gyms and yoga studios, will permanently close as well. And it’s not just small businesses. FoodFirst Global Restaurants, which operates 92 locations, has filed bankruptcy. In other sectors, well-known names filing bankruptcy include Gold’s Gym, Hertz, JCPenney, JCrew, Neiman Marcus, and Pier 1 Imports.

Tables are set but no customers. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ASSOCIATED PRESS

Some have theorized that the closure of so many businesses will limit the chances of economic recovery. That’s not true, however. The restaurant business illustrates the challenges of business failure, and the question of what will happen after the pandemic is over and people are ready to eat out. It will turn out that America will have plenty of restaurants from which to choose: some new, some old. We may experience a brief period of limited choices, but that won’t last long.

People will eventually want to eat out again. They will feel safe once we have a vaccine, a generally-effective treatment, or enough survivors for herd immunity. At that point, many people—but not all—will have money enough to dine out.

When people feel safe,  the current wave of restaurant closures may limit supply of dining out opportunities. Fortunately, many people are eager to open restaurants. Even the most casual observer of the industry has seen multitudes of restaurants come and go. Death and birth are continual phenomena of the restaurant industry.

Some new restaurants are started on a shoestring by a former cook or server; others are financed by wealthy people with ideas about the kind of restaurant they would like to frequent.

After capital, the biggest challenge of entering the restaurant business is finding a good location. Traffic going past the location is helpful. The right amount of space, configured in the right way, is critical. Plenty of retail space has been made available by the closure of brick-and-mortar stores, but that space would require substantial tenant improvements to get the walls in the right places, plus equipment for the kitchen as well as tables, chairs, plates and flatware.

Fortunately, in a world with many closed restaurants, good space will be readily available. Landlords may have taken possession of their tenants’ furniture and fixtures for non-payment of rent. The landlords will be more than willing to turn that equipment over to a prospective tenant who will begin paying rent. Alternatively, the used restaurant equipment industry functions well at getting good products to their second owners—or third owners, or even fourth.

Although ambitious restaurateurs may spend weeks fine-tuning menus, that’s less important when restaurant demand exceeds supply. Food wholesalers help entrepreneurs find menu items that fit the theme and price points targeted by the owner.

Staff recruitment, retention and management is one of the critical issues for most restaurants. That chore gets easier when many experienced workers are looking for jobs because their past employer has gone out of business. Plenty of cooks, servers and managers will be available if many restaurants have closed.

In short, the resources needed for a thriving restaurant industry will be available even if many operations do not survive the covid-19 recession. Entrepreneurs will see the opportunities and set up new businesses. Some will mimic the old eateries that lacked the financial resources to continue, while other new businesses will offer innovative ideas. Some of the innovations will be embraced by customers, while others will be rejected. That’s business as usual.

Business failures in other industries will not leave consumers without the products and services they want. Large corporate bankruptcies usually leave the business operating. The shareholders take losses, bondholders may end up with a portion of the company stock, and some creditors may take a haircut. General Motors and Chrysler have both been bankrupt. Marvel Entertainment went BK back in 1996. PG&E still sells electricity and natural gas to millions of customers even though it filed bankruptcy twice this decade. (It was in good shape when I left my job there many years ago.)

A major airline bankruptcy has been rumored, but consider what would happen if a couple of airlines close, and then people want to travel again. Used airplanes will be available. Experienced pilots, flight attendants and ground personnel will be looking for jobs. Airports will have counters and gates available. The business can be very profitable when things are going well, so financing will be available to the entrepreneurs who see opportunity.

The raft of business closures triggered by the coronavirus recession is hard on the current business owners and employees but will lead new companies to start up to serve consumer in the years to come.