Yelp: New business openings rise nationwide

Nearly every U.S. state experienced an increase in new business openings in the first quarter of 2021. 

That’s according to data from the Yelp Economic Average, from Yelp Inc. The increase is a strong signal of local economic recovery with more new businesses opening than at any other period during the past 12 months, the report said.

In the last 12 months (April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2021). Yelp data reveals there were 516,754 new business openings in the United States, down by only 11% year-over-year. Of the newly opened businesses, 69,001 were restaurant and food businesses, down by 14% year-over-year. New business openings spiked in the first quarter of 2021, with restaurant and food business openings, as well as home, professional, local and auto services openings above the levels of the year-ago period.    

In professional, local, home and auto categories, 272,749 new businesses opened in the last 12 months, up by 2% year-over-year. Home services openings were 165,006 for the year (up 5% year-over-year), local services openings were 54,369 (up 3%), professional services openings were 51,839 (up 2%), and auto openings were 34,282 (down 4%).

States with the largest increase in new openings in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the previous quarter were Mississippi (979 openings, up 39% quarter-over-quarter), Alabama (1,921 openings, up 35%), and Maine (450 openings, up 32%). The largest counts of openings in the quarter tend to be in larger and more heavily populated states, including California (22,157 openings), Texas (14,860 openings), and Florida (14,793 openings).

“After a challenging year, 2021 is off to an encouraging start for the local economy, with Yelp data signaling a recovery as new business openings and business reopenings soar in the first quarter,” said Justin Norman, Yelp’s VP of data science. “Yelp data shows a sharp increase of business reopenings in Q1 – with reopenings hitting its highest levels since August 2020. New business openings also spiked between January and March 2021, with new openings for many categories above prior-year levels. Along with a downward trend of nationwide COVID-19 cases and an increase in vaccinations, these are all promising signs of rebounding local economies.”