The good and the bad for business owners

Life in Songjiang District started getting back to normal from June 1. But it has not all been plain sailing for many local small businesses. Relief has mixed with pain. While self-help has helped some survive and recover, others have been forced to make some painful choices.

Plight: Closing only choice as your business goes bust

Zhang Xiaoming runs an "Internet celebrity" food store in Songjiang University Town. The store, selling tasty and cheap food like yam pasta and four scallops at 15 yuan (US$2.20) and dried bean curds, used to be popular with college students in Songjiang.

"Shortly after the store opened last year, students queued out front, as late as 10 o'clock every night," said Zhang. "Our daily business revenue could reach 3,000 yuan at that time.

"But just as I was thinking about expanding the business, the pandemic resurgence occurred. Our store hasn't attracted a stable customer group. I guess we won't last much longer."

During his two-month quarantine at home, Zhang fretted about the rent, his workers' salaries, overheads, and the future.

"In the first three days after we reopened, the store's daily business revenue was less than 1,000 yuan. Its performance was much worse than before."

The lease expires soon.

After much deliberation, Zhang put a "Store For Transfer" sign on his door.

A live-action role-playing games store owner, who did not want to be named, is going down the same path.

"When I am prepared, I will close the store," the owner said. "An LARP games store relies much on the offline experience. But the pandemic has had a severe impact on the industry.

"The LARP games industry is rife with cut-throat competitions. Only funnier and more thrilling games can attract customers. But due to logistic problems, we are not able to introduce new games."

Balance: Seize the day! Never give up

Cai Shirong, who owns a live-action role-playing games store, remains optimistic despite the many challenges.

"In spite of the pandemic, we could still maintain customer relations," said Cai, owner of the Tian Tian Wan Ka LARP games store.

"If we accurately target their requirements, sooner or later the business will gain profit."

Although the store was unable to launch offline games during the pandemic resurgence, store assistants still kept the customer WeChat group active every day and occasionally launched online games.

"From June, customers could book tickets in advance. As some logistics services resumed, some new games began arriving. Several days ago, our landlords also agreed to some rental relief," said Cai.

He is now advertising some new games in his WeChat circle of friends.

Rent relief has also helped other private store owners.

Gu Hai, owner of a beef broth store, was worried about a drop in daily sales revenue due to a temporary ban on dine-in service.

The news of rent relief of 10,000 yuan in April and May from his landlord somehow cheered him up.

"We started to sell take-away food and we believe our business will turn better," said Gu.

Save yourself: Don't rely on others to bail you out

To survive this ordeal, private store owners had better seek self-rescuing ways in addition to benefiting from favorable government policies.

Weina Hairdresser in Songjiang District saw a rise in revenue in June. "The store's good performance benefited from the good reputation it had cultivated during the pandemic resurgence period," said Xu Cuicui, its manager.

In April and May when the pandemic resurgence severely hit Shanghai, Xu and the store's hairdressers offered haircuts for locals at a discounted price.

The move eased the financial pressure on the salon amid the general business downturn.

"Some residents appreciated the skills of our hairdressers, saying they would still want our service in the future," said Xu.

"We might still adopt some volunteer or low-price haircuts services in the future, to establish good relations with neighborhood residents and to demonstrate the skills of our hairdressers."

A proprietress of Tic-Tac-Toe Coffee in Songjiang District also learned something during the pandemic.

From January to March, the average daily sales of the cafe was around 75-80 cups of coffee, compared with 135 cups of coffee in May.

"We didn't offer group purchase services, nor did we offer take-away services," she said.

"As soon as our quarantine was lifted in May, we opened our store when other cafes might still be closed. We sell freshly made coffee to ensure the high quality of our products.

"Coffee drinkers have their stable preferred flavors and requirements. Compared with a rising quantity of orders, making high-quality coffee is our cornerstone of development. Although in June our daily sales revenue slightly dipped, we have established a stable customer base and the customer feedback is turning better," the proprietress added.

"The market won't let down store owners who have made the effort."

(All the names in the story are pseudonyms.)