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SINGAPORE: It was a lively scene in a new restaurant in a shop on Telok Ayer Street.
A man in a red polo shirt came in and declared that he wanted to eat a sandwich. The same man told a story about a heart attack two years ago outside the store, while other customers listened in awe. Meanwhile, four employees at work were yelling at each other behind the counter.
Curry Boom Boom opened its doors earlier this month, sharing a ground-floor unit space with Cuban sandwich restaurant Porkypine, which opened in September.
The two food concepts are run by a cooperative: team members get equity in addition to their salary.
Owner Abhishek C George said that during the COVID-19 “circuit breaker” he decided to open the place as a way to keep cash flowing even in tough times.
Abhishek C George (center) joined Nick Olinik (left) and Clay Dhillon (right) to be the first two employees of his cooperative company. (Photo: Rachel Phua)
“As an organization, we have a little more track. So the obvious choice is: do we use the runway to cut costs and be conservative, or do we use the runway to make sure the revenue base increases, so that when the runway is about to expire, we have cash from the other base income, ”said George, who also runs The Spiffy Dapper, Sago House and Oriental Elixir.
Getting a huge discount on rent for the first 12 months was what sealed the deal. He said he was “lowballing” around 50 properties between June and July, when many restaurants began closing and the opportunity arose to open a location on Telok Ayer Street.
Curry Boom Boom and Porkypine, two food concepts on the ground floor of Hospo – Mr. George rented the entire store in hopes of turning the top two floors into a business-to-business space. (Photo: Rachel Phua)
You are not the only one opening a food and beverage establishment despite COVID-19 and the resulting economic consequences. Vacancies in the city have allowed Brewerkz to go ahead with its expansion plans.
The microbrewery will open a new restaurant at One Fullerton in November, replacing The Pelican.
Mr. Tan Wee Tuck, who acquired Brewerkz with his two brothers about four or five years ago, said they had always been looking for “wanted places.” When a location opened in the Marina Bay area, they seized the opportunity.
“We’ve been looking at it for years … in a normal environment, it would have been difficult (to rent it) because no one wants to go out,” he said.
Riverside Point exit from Brewerkz. The microbrewery will open another outlet at One Fullerton in November 2020 (Photo; Rachel Phua)
For other players, plans to open a restaurant were already set in stone before the pandemic hit Singapore.
The second Dumpling Darlings branch opened in September on Circular Road. The lease was signed at the beginning of the year, co-owner June Tan said.
Collin founder Collin Ho said the company was locked in at its Great World City and Jurong Point outlets in December. They opened in the third quarter of this year.
Both Collin’s restaurants, the 10th and the 11th, have done well so far, Ho said, especially since they are in suburban neighborhoods where many of his customers work from home.
It is the four outlets in the center that have been affected.
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Similarly, for Ms. Tan’s Circular Road store, business has not done as well as they had anticipated due to COVID-19. The restaurant suffered losses in September, “but hardly”, although it believes they will break even in October.
The outlet changed its opening days from Monday to Saturday, Tuesday to Sunday, to draw in the weekend crowd.
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For these establishments, it was useful to have favorable rental conditions.
They all did not want to reveal how much they were paying in rent, but Ms. Tan said the landlord gave her a “substantial” period without paying rent.
Ho said they got a preferential rate for their lease in Great World City as the mall developer was trying to attract tenants after the mall’s renovation.
Collin’s newest outlet in Jurong Point. (Photo: Iron Chef F&B)
Agreements to launch the first Singapore branch of Japanese tempura chain Tenya had also been in the works since last year, said Bhakt Yap, its managing manager.
Its 68-seat facility in Orchard Central has been reduced to a capacity of 50 after taking safe distancing measures into consideration.
“We are adapting as we move forward and we find the best way to maximize space,” Yap said.
While there are concerns about what the business would look like amid COVID-19, such as concerns about whether it can earn enough to pay the rent, Tan de Brewerkz said his new venture is part of an investment for the brand.
“We have taken a calculated risk … we are prepared to lose money,” he said.
READ: Some diners still break COVID-19 rules, but F&B operators say the situation has improved
Avenue 87, which opened along Amoy Street in September, has not been profitable so far. But his chefs Glen Tay and Alex Phan said they would be pleased if they could cover the expenses. Opening a restaurant has always been a dream for both of us.
“(COVID-19) is here to stay, so you (just) have to go ahead and fix it,” Phan said.
Preparations are underway to relaunch Neon Pigeon, a former restaurant on Keong Saik Road under the hospitality group The Dandy Collection.
The restaurant’s lease ended during the circuit breaker, and it was not a good time to renew it, as dinners were prohibited at the time, said Rohit Roopchand, co-founder and CEO of The Dandy Collection. They had also been thinking of moving it to a larger space.
“The last few months have been a real challenge for the industry, but since we entered Phase 2 … we have witnessed an upward trend in eating out across the board … so we feel like now it’s the perfect time to bring the Neon Pigeon back, “said Roopchand. He declined to reveal the opening date.
F&B STILL DOLDRUMS
Despite some optimism, the figures show that Singapore’s F&B scene is nowhere near the end of the tunnel.
The latest data from the Singapore Department of Statistics showed that total F&B sales fell 28.6 percent year-on-year in August. Year-on-year sales at restaurants fell 32.2 percent, while business volume at cafes, food courts and other restaurants declined 17.6 percent.
High-profile closures recently include the iconic 43-year-old Revolving Restaurant Prima Tower and local bakery chain Bakerzin.
Revolving Restaurant Prima Tower. (Photo: 8world News / Guan Meiling)
Restaurant reservation provider Chope said that so far, 30 percent more restaurants have pulled from its platform year-over-year due to closures.
From January to September, there were 180 restaurants that were delisted because they had closed, compared to 139 restaurants in the same period in 2019.
At the same time, 105 new restaurants were listed on Chope from June 18 to September 30, compared with 163 in the corresponding period last year. Chope noted that these could be new to the platform and not necessarily a new restaurant.
READ: Revolving restaurant Prima Tower closes after 43 years, brought down by the impact of COVID-19
READ: Singapore Retail Sales Fall Again In August, But At A Slower Pace Amid Auto Demand
“At the present time, businesses are still affected by reduced seating capacity to comply with safe distancing measures,” said a spokesman for the Singapore Restaurant Association, an organization representing 5,000 F&B outlets. .
“Many have also tried to make up for this loss of meal revenue through food delivery, which has hollow margins as F&B operators still have to pay full fixed rents as well as high commissions to delivery platforms. Clearly, this is not sustainable or sustainable in the medium and long term. “
READ: No Michelin Guide Singapore 2020 due to prolonged restaurant closures
On the whole, observers were a bit more optimistic, although they noted that the recovery has been uneven.
Chope Singapore CEO Jean Wee said that based on his booking numbers for Singapore, it is experiencing a rebound that matches pre-COVID-19 numbers.
But this increase has not been distributed equally among all restaurants, he said. The application had 1,521 outlets using its reservation services.
Some restaurants, such as those with outdoor seating, do well, while those that cater to large food groups or rely on tourists continue to suffer.
Alan Goh, director of revenue for food ordering app Oddle, said his system found that some F&B groups launched “virtual restaurants” where the menu is available online only and food is delivered or picked up since the start of the Phase 2. These include Tigerlily Patisserie from Ebb & Flow Group and Grammi from ilLido Group.
It’s a new concept that wasn’t seen before the breaker, Goh said. Oddle has 1,399 Singapore restaurants subscribed to his system.
Rather than permanently shutting down their store, some F&B operators have chosen not to renew their lease downtown and relocate to a suburban site, the RAS spokesperson added.
“The performance of a restaurant depends on many factors. One of the most important factors is, of course, location, ”he said.
“With working from home still the predominant mode of work, food and beverage outlets in the formerly sought after central business district … are generally experiencing a greater loss of revenue compared to outlets in areas suburban companies that are now running (on) 50% to 80% of pre-COVID sales. “
For F&B stalwarts who opened new outlets, starting a business has always been about taking risks, and now there is no going back.
“The circuit breaker was basically a big hole. And we realized that to get out of the hole, the best way was to dig deeper, ”said George.
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