The Boise Area Has Lost Over 40 Businesses in Just 20 Months

When 2020 finally came to an end, we celebrated thinking that things could only get better from here. Unfortunately, the clock striking 12:01 a.m. on January 1, 2021 didn't magically make everything better. 

It became clear to too many local businesses that they would never financially recover from the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates that either forced them to close their doors for an extended period of time or radically change their business model to meet standards that were just too expensive to uphold.

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Those who managed to stay open and are trying to claw back are struggling to fill positions they urgently need filled to provide a level of customer service they're proud of. With COVID-19 cases surging in the Treasure Valley again, it's becoming even more difficult to do so.

We wish there was a magic wand we could wave to make things easier for local business owners so that they don't find themselves on this list of businesses we've lost since March 2020.

Some of the businesses on this list were already struggling or choosing to exit the market before the pandemic hit. We're not saying all of them closed due to COVID, just that they closed in the past 20 months.

As we were refreshing this list, it was nice to take two restaurants off of it because they are re-opening after all! Mad Mac's brick and mortar location at the Boise Spectrum reopened in November. The Golden Wheel Drive In, which closed in June, also announced plans to re-open.