Covid-19: What Grapevine, Texas tells us about restaurant and retail recovery

In a city of just over 50,000 where retail and hospitality are the top employment sectors, Covid-19 could have been a death sentence. Everything about Grapevine — from its packed festival schedule to its ingrained wine culture — suggests that a pandemic would bring the city to a screeching halt. If you want a picture of the city’s dedication to destination retail and entertainment, look no farther than the 500,000 square feet of convention space within its borders: enough room for almost every citizen to safely social distance across the hotels and show floors alone.

And yet, the tourist town seated atop (and tethered to) DFW International Airport, one of the nation’s busiest travel hubs, remains steadfast. Surveys of consumer foot traffic and employment data within the city reveal a pair of interesting trends with broad implications: the importance of a local following and a generally optimistic outlook among consumers and employers alike.

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