5 industries that thrived during COVID-19

The worldwide Coronavirus pandemic has, as well all know by now, been absolutely terrible on a multitude of businesses out there.

It seems as if every week we are hearing about a household name closing down for good or on the verge of doing so as they can’t keep up with what COVID has done to them.

Bankruptcies, which have been common for a very long time, are almost becoming the norm in a situation that still has no end in sight. Recent names that come to mind who have unfortunately had to file include restaurant conglomerates like Ruby Tuesday’s and California Pizza Kitchen, discount clothing chain Century 21, and the nation’s largest candy store retailer It’s Sugar.

There’s also the local effect that COVID has caused. Mom and pop stores we have grown up with have shuddered. The food, travel, and tourism industry has taken one of the most (if not the most) unexpected dives ever as people are still afraid to either eat indoors or travel.

Take for instance The Roosevelt Hotel, an iconic institution in New York City that is closing its doors after 100 years in service because of this. One hundred years! The madness of it all.

On the flip side, there have been, shockingly enough, a bunch of industries that have been doing more than A-OK during this pandemic. It’s hard to believe that companies are able to thrive amid such a dramatic time in our lives but there have been ones who could consider this happening to be a blessing as opposed to an unbelievable hardship that millions of others continue to deal with.

Take a look at five that have thrived in the year that has been primarily defined by COVID.

Supermarkets

This one shouldn’t be that much of a surprise as the need for home cooking and eating became that much bigger once Coronavirus took over.

According to a recent report supermarkets in most states were up 20 to 50 percent with only five seeing a decrease in year-over-year sales during this period. There was a large impact when news of COVID spreading domestically first began.

For instance, supermarkets across the country saw a 100 percent revenue increase on March 16, the date when things took a huge shift from the world we once knew.

Online shopping

Again, this is quite similar to supermarkets in that we weren’t able to shop for a significant time during the early COVID months.

The numbers, again, are impressive as more than one-third of consumers shop online weekly since Coronavirus hit (up from 28 percent pre-COVID). This study came out just weeks ago so COVID seems to be having a lasting effect on certain people who have changed their mall wears for indoor wears and credit card swiping for a bunch of clicks in the process.

Streaming services

COVID has inspired many of us to see what’s out there, entertainment-wise, to enjoy from the comfort of our own homes. Netflix, which was already a big deal pre-COVID, became that much bigger during it as they got 16 million new signs ups towards the beginning of the year. Disney, which has had a catastrophic year due to COVID, launched Disney Plus which helped some of their revenue increase quite a bit thanks to its over 50 million paid subscribers.  

Delivery Services. You’re seeing a pattern here, right? Anything that can be done inside the home has performed excellently during COVID. Delivery services saw a big uptick as millions brought their favorite restaurant dishes to their homes as opposed to cooking for the 40^th night in a row.

This was also beneficial for local businesses as many of these apps did their best to highlight those in an effort to help them keep their brick and mortar locations alive. Some of these places have been able to open their doors back up months later as a result, proving that a little bit of effort goes a long way. 

Fitness equipment

Workout enthusiasts weren’t about to have COVID stop them from staying in tiptop shape. Sales of fitness equipment saw a massive spike this year as gyms throughout the country largely remained closed or had very strict rules you had to abide by. And the results were insane as it was reported that this industry saw a 170% increase in sales for all types of machines to break a sweat to.