Jason Chan Closes Hot Pot Business
Many Hong Kong restaurants suffered large financial losses during the coronavirus pandemic, and even celebrity ownership has not boosted shop traffic. Artistes Jason Chan (陳柏宇) and King Chiu‘s (趙勁皓) hot pot restaurants were hit especially hard, which forced them to close one location and transfer ownership for another shop whose lease was up.
Though they love their businesses, they decided it was the best decision to make during this difficult time. Seeing that they are unable to turn the situation around and to prevent any more losses, it was the right time to end the operations. Jason said, “I don’t think I lost money, because I already earned back my investment [during its prime]. We wanted to reserve cash, so decided to close when the lease was up. It’s not regretful–if businesses don’t do well, then they don’t do well.”
Diversified in retail operations, King’s bar saw a boost in revenues, but is experiencing large financial losses in his other restaurants. Owning three Beijing cuisine restaurants, a bar, and gym, King remarked, “I thought about passing the business to someone else. I even started looking for renters but the landlord won’t let me. As of right now, I think I can only last three to six more months. I don’t want to close the businesses since I have over 100 employees and I have been working in this field for over nine years. I will push for as long as I can since one of the landlords decided to decrease my rent. Luckily, my gym is still doing fine, and the bar is busier since people don’t have to go to work or school.”
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Hailey for JayneStars.com.
Not cool! What about the staff? Now out of work. By his confession he is not losing money? Not cool at all.
@funnlim Um, what? He meant overall throughout the life of the restaurant he didn’t lose money, doesn’t mean he’s not losing money presently. And why shouldn’t he close it if he thinks it’s not profitable? It’s a business, not a charity. Why should he, as a business owner, be expected to suck up all the losses?
@funnlim
Wow. No common sense in your criticism. If seeing no immediate future in his business why shouldn’t he just close? Why stick to something you know won’t work anymore and guarantees to lose money? ‘Hotpots‘ require a lot of unhygienic contact of eating utensils during meals so this business is just not viable in the aftermath of a pandemic. Buffets the same too since food can be touched my many customers.
@jimmyszeto Hotpot has been a popular business recently. However, during this pandemic, it’s very hard to maintain a hotpot restaurant. For ex, some states in US only allow take-out/delivery. Fast food businesses see a rise in sales though
“bar is busier since people don’t have to go to work or school”
What? So in Hong Kong lockdown people are not working or going to school to avoid the virus yet bars are still open where its probably THE worst of venues to contract the disease?