Yeah, I think the original branch is staying open? I’ve seen a lot of people picking up takeaways, business still seemed really good. It is a loss for Minsheng, because it was food prepared with some skill, as opposed to another xiaochidian with the rice cooker full of 滷肉, and all the bought in pre-prepared side dishes.
My take on it is that some of these restaurants with multiple locations are rationalising, and perhaps planning to ramp up their online operations through Uber Eats et al at the same time.
After 70 years you’d think they’d have built savings and goodwill to weather a couple months. It makes me think that many of these places were on their last legs before the outbreak.
They had 16 months to save for a rainy day too.
If it was that iconic, probably could have found a buyer if they were that desperate and cashed out a bit.