Remember when Malaysians were shocked to hear news of well-known shops such as Tous Les Jours and Nature Republic ceasing operation in Malaysia? Well, just as we were wondering who else would exit Malaysia next, we have our answer: Tim Ho Wan.
#2017DeathToAllRetailBrands
That’s right, the famed dim sum restaurant from Hong Kong with their Michelin-starred fare has announced that they will be exiting Malaysia, in another shocking revelation, according to The Edge Markets.
The restaurant was launched back in 2014 to much fanfare, and in the beginning, the queues to sample some of their famous dim sum stretched for hours.
However, the hype soon died down and while they’ve had their loyal customers, it seems that it isn’t enough to sustain their business. Texchem Resources Bhd said that Dim Sum Delight Sdn Bhd, who operates the Tim Ho Wan outlets in Malaysia, incurred a loss of RM895,642 for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016 (FY2016).
The decision was made as Texchem explained that,
“Given that the current retail market remains soft and competitive, the board of Dim Sum Delight is of the view that the prospects of Dim Sum Delight is very challenging and this situation is not expected to change anytime soon. Accordingly, the shareholders of Dim Sum Delight are of the opinion that Dim Sum Delight should cease its business operation to minimise losses.”
They made their name in Hong Kong for their Michelin one-star recognition and was one of the cheapest Michelin restaurants back then. Soon after, they expanded to other Asian countries such as Singapore and Thailand. Some of their most famous food include signature baked buns with char siew filling, smooth vermicelli rolls stuffed with pork liver, steamed egg cakes and pan-fried carrot cakes. Guess we have to head over to other countries to eat their food now!
However, a recent check on their Facebook page doesn’t show any announcement yet as to when exactly their outlets will cease operation so we will just have to wait and see. Meanwhile, this has got us wondering when exactly will we bid farewell to yet another famous name in the industry.
While another brand closes down this 2017, at least Malaysians will be excited to know that the popular Planet of the Apes movie series is still going strong and is making a comeback this 13 July! You can click here for more info.
Let’s hope there are no other brands closing down soon!