* * * * * MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXVI NO. 81 WSJ.com HHHH $4 .00

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Restaurant owners saythey have grown accustomedthis year to constantly rein-venting themselves to sur-vive. For many, the next chal-lenge is getting aroundMother Nature as the U.S.heads toward winter.

Sales from outdoor dining,reduced indoor dining, deliveryand takeout haven’t equaledwhat most restaurants ex-pected to earn this year beforethe pandemic upended publiclife, some owners said. Addingheaters and other fixtures todraw diners to outdoor tablesas the weather cools adds tothe costs of sustaining a mod-est revenue stream.

But determined restaurantoperators said they have noother choice. They said run-ning at a loss while they havefunds to do so—in the hopethat the threat of the virusabates—is better than the chal-lenges they would face afterclosing temporarily, such asfinding reliable staff.

“I just think people feel saf-est outdoors, and we are want-ing to really be able to accom-modate them,” said LauraGarcia, general manager ofninetwentyfive, a restaurant inWayzata, Minn., that is adding7-foot-tall heated igloos andoutfitting its balconies with re-tractable shades to trap heat.

Chicago’s city governmentrecently held a contest tocrowdsource ideas to keep res-taurants afloat this winter. Sug-gestions included outdoor podsmade of recycled plastic thatenclose each table and tablesoutfitted with fire pits.

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A casualty of the pandemic,the days of the salad bar aregone for the foreseeable fu-ture.

To those who alwayssniffed at the self-serve sta-tion, it should have beentossed long ago, and merits noeulogy. Salad-and-hot barssnobs find them unappetizing,their open-air fixings exposedto coughs and picked up withshared utensils, containerstopped with sneeze-guardssplattered with ranch dress-ing.

But to devotees, the banish-ment of buffet bars signifiesthe closing of a cherished

Devotees Lament TossingOf the Salad Bar

i i

Casualty of Covid had nostalgic appeal:‘With each visit I could create something’

chapter in childhood memo-ries. Salad bars, mirages ofhealthful eating, provided freechoice for kids. Affection forthe set-up often carried intoadulthood.

“Salad bars are fantasticbecause the combinations arelimitless. You can go throughlike 30 ingredients and not eatthe same salad twice foryears,” said Steve Hughes, a35-year-old structural engi-neer. He calls them “one of themost delightful epicurean ex-periences I for one have everhad.”

Seeking an escape in earlyAugust, Mr. Hughes planned aroad trip with a few friends to

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BY STEVE GARBARINO

2011 '15 '20

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CSI 300*, 10-year performance

Source: FactSet*Comprised of the 300 largest stocks listed in Shanghai or Shenzhen.

BY RUTH SIMON

Kim Redeker opened TheSweet Granada chocolateshop in Emporia, Kan., in2004, in a storefront thathad been vacant for years.She was an early foot soldierin a push to revitalize Empo-ria’s downtown.

Other specialty shops, res-taurants and bars poppedup—the Bourbon Cowboybar, a bike shop called GravelCity Adventure & Supply Co.,Dynamic Discs for disc golf.By early 2020, the vacancyrate on Emporia’s MainStreet corridor had droppedbelow 10%, compared withabout 40% in 1991. “It hasbeen a sweet ride being partof that redevelopment,” said

Ms. Redeker. Until recently,she had a staff of 16.

As of today, a couple ofEmporia’s businesses areshutting their doors forgood. Others are beingpropped up in part by gov-ernment aid and private do-nations. One Emporia officialestimates that 20% of itsMain Street businesses areat risk.

Many small-town down-towns experienced some-thing of a revival in recentyears, thanks to businesseslike Sweet Granada. Theybrought much-neededgrowth to spots that for de-cades had lost ground tolarger cities, shopping malls,big-box stores and, most re-

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INSIDE

WASHINGTON—Doctors saidPresident Trump’s conditionwas improving on Sunday, twodays after he checked into thehospital, though they also notedthat his blood oxygen level haddropped on Saturday and thathe was taking a steroid that hastypically been given to Covid-19patients who are seriously ill.

Doctors said on Sunday thepresident could be sent back tothe White House as soon asMonday, as they sought to clar-ify his condition after severaldays of contradictory informa-tion from doctors and advisers.Dr. Sean Conley, the president’sphysician, said at a news confer-ence on Sunday at Walter ReedNational Military Medical Cen-ter that Mr. Trump’s condition“continues to improve.” But healso said Mr. Trump’s symptomshad been serious, adding that hetried to provide an “upbeat” as-sessment in a Saturday briefing.

Dr. Conley said the presi-PleaseturntopageA4

BY ANDREW RESTUCCIAAND CATHERINE LUCEY

Stocks in China have fared better than U.S. markets for muchof the year, powered by the nation’s economic recovery. B9

RestaurantsUse Igloos,Heaters asIt Gets ColdBY DAVE SEBASTIANAND JULIE WERNAU

The second-largest cinemachain in the U.S. is closing allits locations nationwide afterreopening in August, escalatingthe pandemic-driven crisis fac-ing the entertainment industry.

The decision by CineworldGroup PLC’s Regal Entertain-ment Group to suspend opera-tions at its more than 500 loca-tions this Thursday follows acascade of postponements forbig-budget Hollywood films,

most recently the coming JamesBond title “No Time to Die.”

The studio behind the film,MGM Holdings Inc., said onFriday it was delaying the filmfor the second time, to nextApril from this November. Ithad originally been scheduledfor release in April of this year.

Cineworld is the second-largest movie-theater operatoron a global basis as well as inthe U.S.

“We are like a grocery shopthat doesn’t have vegetables,

fruit, meat,” Cineworld CEOMooky Greidinger said in an in-terview with The Wall StreetJournal. “We cannot operate fora long time without a product.”

Some Hollywood studioshave experimented with ship-ping big-budget movies di-rectly online, like Walt DisneyCo. which opted against re-leasing its $200 million “Mu-lan” remake in U.S. theaters.The company instead put themovie on its streaming servicefor about $30. Before that,

Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pic-tures made the family film“Trolls World Tour” availableon digital-rental platforms forabout $20.

Like many businesses thatrely on gathering consumersin public spaces, theaters inthe U.S. have endured historiclevels of financial strain formonths. After the coronaviruspandemic initially caused mostU.S. cinemas to close inMarch, major chains like Re-gal, AMC Entertainment Hold-

ings Inc. and Cinemark Hold-ings Inc. reopened in Augustahead of the spy film “Tenet,”distributed by AT&T Inc.’sWarner Bros.

The highly anticipatedmovie from director Christo-pher Nolan had been delayedrepeatedly amid continuing un-certainty about which theaterswould be allowed to open.

But with only about two-thirds of domestic theatersable to open because of vary-

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BY R.T. WATSON

Regal’s Movie Screens to Go Dark in U.S.

China’s Recovery Lifts Stocks Recent RevivalOf Small TownsPut to the Test

Downtown shops enlivening Emporia, Kan.,now struggle with pandemic’s challenges

Trump Is Improving, Doctors SayPresident suffered twodrops in blood oxygenlevel; he is on a steroidused in severe cases

President Trump left the hospital briefly on Sunday to drive by supporters outside of the Walter Reed medical center.

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New York acts to halt virusspike................................................ A3

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PERSONAL JOURNALElite frequent fliersmiss the perks but

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CONTENTSArts in Review... A13Business News....... B3Crossword.............. A14Heard on Street... B10Markets............... B9-10Opinion.............. A15-17

Outlook....................... A2Personal Journal A11-12Sports....................... A14Technology............... B4U.S. News............. A2-8Weather................... A14World News....... A9,18

s 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.All Rights Reserved

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What’sNews

Doctors said Trump’s con-ditionwas improving Sunday,two days after he checkedinto the hospital, though theyalso noted that his blood oxy-gen level had dropped on Sat-urday and that he was takinga steroid that has typicallybeen given to Covid-19 pa-tientswho are seriously ill.A1 New York City onWednesday will close pub-lic schools and nonessen-tial businesses in parts ofBrooklyn and Queens thathave seen a week-long spikein coronavirus cases. A3 Trump is drawing hisweakest voter support of theyear in his re-election race af-ter Tuesday’s contentious de-bate, a newWall Street Jour-nal/NBC News poll finds. A5Federal agencieswere toldto suspend diversity train-ing programs until they aredeemed compliant with aTrump order banning “anti-American race and sex stereo-typing and scapegoating.” A3 Pope Francis offered hisprescription for poverty,terrorism, racism and otherills plaguing societies in anencyclical written in theshadow of the pandemic. A9 Belgian police arrestedthree men suspected of in-volvement in the Rwandangenocide, the latest in a seriesof high-profile arrests. A18Western Germany hasregistered more coronaviruscases than the former commu-nist East, a new divide threedecades after reunification.A9

C ineworld’s Regal, thesecond-largest cinema

chain in the U.S., is closingall its locations nationwideafter reopening in August,escalating the pandemic-driven crisis facing the en-tertainment industry. A1 A government effort tobreak up Facebook from In-stagramandWhatsAppwoulddefy established law, cost bil-lions and harm consumers,according to a paper preparedby company lawyers. A2Major U.S. tech stockslook vulnerable to a corpo-rate-tax increase that mightresult from a Democraticsweep in November, poten-tially undermining one of thestrongest drivers of the mar-ket’s recovery this year. B1Automakers, pumping bil-lions into developing electriccars, face a critical choice: getmore involved with manu-facturing the core batteriesor buy them from others. B1 Guo Wengui, a Chinesebusinessman allied withex-Trump adviser Bannon,is in an increasingly vola-tile fight with investorsover a fundraising planthat has drawn scrutiny. A8 Coca-Cola is discontinu-ing its Zico coconut waterbrand and considering axingsome less-popular versionsof Coke and Diet Coke. B2Sable Permian has agreedto sell itself to bank lenders,all but wiping out more than$700 million of debt heldby secured bondholders. B2

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