FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It has been months since we all locked ourselves in our homes to escape the coronavirus, but it has become clear that we’ve learned a new way to live and work.Recently released sales tax data reveals the extent to which we were forced to change — as consumers and as workers — after the economy shut down last spring.Restaurants, the lifeblood of South Florida’s hospitality industry, watched business plummet after dining rooms were forced to close.
Bars, clothing stores, salons, bakeries and other businesses were deemed off limits to walk-in customers.Many of those businesses have since reopened, with changes, but the data from the Florida Department of Revenue also shows that we actually spent more money in some.