Since 2023, the restaurant industry in Quebec and elsewhere in North America has been in a state of deep shock. Rising costs, labor shortages, exploding rents: the combination is fatal for many independent restaurants. At first glance, this wave of “closing restaurants” seems uniquely negative. Yet for Quebec SMEs – whether in the restaurant, retail, service or B2B sectors – this market transformation is opening up a series of concrete opportunities, especially for those banking on digital, AI and automation.
In this article, we analyze the 2024-2025 trends around restaurant closures, with recent statistics, and explore how Quebec SMEs can capitalize on them: premises takeovers, new business models, food e-commerce, B2B services for surviving restos, and process optimization through AI, CRMs and the creation of online platforms. The goal: to move from a crisis vision to a strategic, growth- and innovation-oriented one.
1. A difficult context: what the figures for 2023-2025 reveal
Restaurant closures aren’t just a feeling: they’re backed up by solid data. According to an analysis published in early 2024 by data firm US Technomic, the number of net restaurant closures in North America has risen since the end of government aid linked to the pandemic. In the USA, several major chains have announced the closure of hundreds of branches in 2024, a sign that even the major players are having to restructure and optimize their operations.
In Canada, Statistics Canada showed that the accommodation and food services sector was among the hardest hit during and after the pandemic, with high volatility in the number of active establishments. According to data released in 2023, the foodservice sector still showed a decline in real revenues compared to 2019, despite higher nominal sales, due to inflation and operating costs. This financial pressure is directly reflected in closures and brand changes.
For Quebec, industry groups – including the Association Restauration Québec (ARQ) – point to several structuring trends:
- Rising food costs: food inflation outpaced general inflation over several quarters between 2022 and 2024, squeezing restaurant operators’ margins.
- Shortage of manpower: many establishments are reducing their opening hours or closing for entire days due to a lack of qualified staff.
- High commercial rents: in several central districts of Montreal and Quebec City, rising rents are particularly hard on small independents.
- Post-pandemic indebtedness: many restos are still carrying loans taken out during COVID-19, which have become difficult to repay as interest rates have risen.
These factors explain the increase in vacancies and the faster “turnover” of restaurant concepts. However, this situation also represents a turning point for other SMEs: the relative decline in the cost of certain locations, kitchen equipment for sale, customers looking for new experiences and more efficient digital services.
In this context, companies that rely on digital technologies – transactional sites, automation, AI, CRM – are better positioned to absorb shocks and take advantage of these new niches. This is precisely where specialized partners like Nuaweb can make a real difference for Quebec SMEs.
2. Vacancies, changing concepts and new real estate opportunities
Every restaurant that closes leaves behind a space, a neighborhood, a potential clientele… and an opportunity. In many Quebec cities, particularly Montreal, Laval, Quebec City and some on the South Shore and North Shore, we’ve seen an increase in “For Lease” signs on former restaurant spaces since 2023. For SMEs, this means :
- Access to previously unaffordable locations: some landlords are more flexible on rents and conditions (free months, tenant improvements, lease terms).
- Possibility of transforming a restaurant into a specialty store, office, service clinic, hybrid business (showroom + e-commerce warehouse) or production kitchen.
- Reuse of equipment (kitchens, ventilation systems, cold rooms) to launch low-cost concepts or food laboratories.
For a Quebec SME, the first instinct might be to copy the model of the restaurant that has just closed. However, trends in 2024-2025 are moving towards hybrid and optimized models:
- Ghost kitchens: kitchens dedicated solely to delivery, with a high-performance website and a well-integrated online ordering system. Such a concept relies on a strong digital presence and an e-commerce platform tailored to the foodservice industry.
- Multifunctional spaces: café by day, training or coworking room during off-peak hours, private events in the evening. This requires excellent management of reservations and customer relations.
- Retail + tasting: delicatessen, microbrewery, craft brewer or cheese maker using the space to sell on site and online via a digital store.
To maximize these opportunities, digital presence becomes central: a clear website, optimized for local SEO, and a well thought-out content strategy help attract customers to the area even before the official opening. Professional website design for Quebec SMEs can include :
- An online booking or appointment module.
- A takeaway or delivery system.
- A blog space to tell the project story, attract local media and improve SEO.
SMEs that take the time to structure their online presence at the time of lease negotiation are often the ones who see their customer flow take off faster. In a market marked by “restaurant closing”, it’s the combination of location + digital strategy that makes the difference.
3. From table service to digital: capturing online demand
Restaurant closures don’t mean that consumer demand is disappearing: it’s shifting. According to several market studies published between 2022 and 2024, online ordering, delivery and fast casual dining continue to grow. A Deloitte report on post-pandemic restaurant trends points out that consumers now expect seamless experiences: mobile ordering, frictionless payment, personalized loyalty programs.
For Quebec SMEs, this transformation translates into at least four types of opportunities:
- Create or improve an online food store: local products, ready-to-eat meals, discovery boxes, monthly subscriptions, specialty groceries. A well-designed e-commerce site allows you to sell beyond your immediate neighborhood, all over Quebec.
- Offer B2B services to existing restaurants: agencies, consultants, suppliers, caterers, technology companies can help restaurants survive and transform (photos, videos, automation, AI, training, review management, etc.).
- Develop hybrid experiences: online culinary workshops, virtual tastings, cooking classes with home-delivered kits, combining physical and digital presence.
- Optimize customer loyalty: leverage customer data to personalize offers, intelligently follow-up and increase the average basket.
This is where technological integration becomes a strong competitive advantage. A well-designed e-commerce solution enables :
- Manage inventory in real time between the dining room, the kitchen and the online store.
- Offer intelligent upsells (add-on products, combined menus, seasonal promotions).
- Track buying habits and refine offers over time.
Combined with a CRM adapted to SMEs, such a platform enables you to :
- Centralize customer information (purchase history, food preferences, allergies, frequency of visits).
- Segment customers (local customers, corporate customers, delivery customers, event customers).
- Launch targeted e-mail or SMS campaigns: re-opening offers, special menus, private events, off-peak promotions.
Restaurant closing” leaves a gap that connected businesses can fill, provided they understand this new omnichannel reality. SMEs that master their digital presence no longer depend solely on foot traffic: they build lasting, measurable relationships with their customers, beyond a simple meal.
4. AI, automation and CRM: turning crisis into competitive advantage
A common denominator behind many restaurant closures is the inability to keep pace: lack of time, lack of staff, tight margins, poor visibility on figures. For SMEs, whether in the restaurant business or not, the key question becomes: how can we do better with the same resources – or even less? The answers are increasingly to be found in AI, automation and intelligent data management tools.
By 2024-2025, several concrete uses will be emerging in Quebec:
- Chatbots and virtual assistants to automatically answer frequent customer questions: times, menu, allergens, reservations, order status. An AI-powered chatbot can drastically reduce the volume of calls and messages that have to be handled manually.
- Marketing automation: automatic post-purchase emails, reminders when a customer hasn’t ordered in a while, special offers for birthdays or local holidays.
- Data analysis to identify the most profitable days and times, the most marginal products, the most effective campaigns, and continuously adjust the offer.
A well-configured CRM becomes the heart of this system. Instead of suffering the loss of customers due to the closure of neighboring restaurants, an SME can :
- Identify high-potential customer segments in your geographical area.
- Launch targeted campaigns to position yourself as the new benchmark (for example, “your new signature lunch 5 minutes from the old X restaurant”).
- Accurately track the ROI of each marketing initiative and adjust in real time.
AI reinforces this approach by providing advanced personalization capabilities: product recommendations, demand forecasting, content generation (menu descriptions, social publications, newsletters) adapted to the brand’s tone. For Quebec SMEs, often limited in time and resources, this is a way of accessing a level of sophistication previously reserved for large chains.
At the same time, the creation of AI-optimized websites makes it possible to integrate these tools directly: recommendation modules, live chat, enriched FAQs, intelligent forms. The whole package contributes to reducing friction for the customer and increasing conversions, whether for a reservation, a quote request or an online order.
Finally, the wave of “restaurant closings” highlights a reality: companies that don’t digitalize their operations and customer relations are more vulnerable. Those that adopt an integrated digital strategy – AI, CRM, e-commerce, automation – turn this turbulent period into a sustainable competitive advantage.
Conclusion: turning restaurant closures into growth drivers
Restaurant closures in Quebec and across North America are symptomatic of a sector undergoing profound change. Rising costs, consumer expectations, technological pressure: the rules of the game have changed. For Quebec SMEs, this may seem worrying… but it’s also a rare window of opportunity.
Premises available on better terms, customers looking for new experiences, growth in online demand, massive need for digital services and AI solutions: everything is in place for agile businesses to get ahead of the game. The key is not just to open a new business or launch a new site, but to build a connected, measurable and scalable business model.
This is exactly how Nuaweb supports SMEs in Quebec:
- AI and chatbot strategies to automate customer interaction and cut costs.
- Implementation of CRM and sales automation to build loyalty and better segment customers.
- Creation of high-performance websites, designed for local SEO and conversion.
- E-commerce solutions tailored to the realities of food, retail and service businesses.
If you’d like to take advantage of this period of change to reposition your business, launch a new concept or optimize your operations through digital means, the Nuaweb team can help you take action with a concrete approach tailored to local SMEs.
Ready to turn “restaurant closing” into a growth opportunity for your Quebec SME? Schedule a free consultation with Nuaweb today: https: //nuaweb.com/#contact.
