Bai Nian food court loses S$250,000 in seven months as weekday crowds disappear

Tommy Pang says his family has spent about S$250,000 over the past seven months simply keeping Bai Nian Food Court in Singapore’s Chai Chee business park open.

The second-generation food and beverage operator runs the venue at ESR BizPark @ Chai Chee, where weekday lunch occupancy has dropped to between 10 and 20 per cent. The food court has seating for roughly 400 to 500 people, but Pang said he recently visited at noon and saw only four or five tables occupied.

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We lost about S$250,000 just to keep the lights on at this food court.

“The problem is, there are just no people anymore. The building is dead,” Pang told 8days.sg. He said business began declining during the COVID-19 period and never recovered as companies moved out of the business park and working from home became more common.

The family has operated the food court since 2017. It contains eight stalls, including a drinks stall, and the family’s brands now run seven of them. Those brands include the Bai Nian yong tau foo chain, Shi Nian pork leg rice and Hae! Mee prawn noodles.

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And we really cannot let it continue like this. If not, I really have no idea how we're going to continue operating this space.

Finding tenants has become a major obstacle. A Western food operator recently left abruptly and forfeited the full deposit, Pang said. The family then tried, unsuccessfully, to find an Indian food operator for the vacant unit. Prospective tenants who visit the food court see the sparse weekday crowd and lack confidence in taking a stall.

Weekends are better, with lunchtime occupancy reaching about 80 per cent, partly because of children’s enrichment centres at the mall. But that stronger weekend trade has not made up for the quiet weekdays, leaving the family to shoulder most of the operating burden.

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The problem is, there are just no people anymore. The building is dead.