Lin Heung tea houses shut down due to lost sales under pandemic

Ancient Chinese tea houses Lin Heung Lau (蓮香樓) and 蓮香棧 have shut down due to rapid fall in sales under the pandemic.

According to a statement on Lin Heung Group’s Facebook on 8 August, both 蓮香樓 and 蓮香棧 have confirmed to cease operation as of 8 August 2022, however Lin Heung Kui (蓮香居) in Sheung Wan will continue serving traditional dim sum. The statement concluded by thanking their supporters and consumers for visiting over the years.

Meanwhile, 蓮香樓 and 蓮香棧 also posted a statement on Facebook, explaining that the tea houses were defeated by lost revenues during the pandemic. The tea houses said they regret to announce their closure and wish other tea houses can survive under the adverse economic environment.

A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE confirmed that the official website of Lin Heung Group is inaccessible.

Social monitoring firm CARMA saw that the volume of mentions has increased sharply after the announcement was out last night, and it has a total of 550 mentions as of 10am on 9 August. CARMA also revealed that sentiments of related mentions were mostly negative (32%), “many were disappointed to hear about the closure of one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. The announcement triggered many netizens’ desires to open the border as some believed the lack of tourists has had a significant impact on Lin Heung,” said Charles Cheung, general manager of CARMA.

Although the commenting feature was disabled on the original announcement on Lin Heung Group’s official Facebook page, there were close to 100 shares on the post, according to CARMA. The post was also shared by a number of travel and food bloggers.

Lin Heung Lau (蓮香樓) has a history of more than 100 years. It was formerly known as a Guangzhou cake shop and transformed into a specialised tea house in 1910. It was later renamed as Lin Heung Lau because a scholar Chen Ruyue praised the tea house’s lotus paste for its delicious taste. In 1918, Lin Heung Lau launched in Hong Kong, and the two-storey tea house has since then situated at Wellington Street in Central.

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic since early 2020 dealt a significant blow to global and local economic activities. Back in June this year, Hong Kong snack food franchise Aji Ichiban has shut down due to the rapid fall in sales under the pandemic. 

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a spokesperson from Aji Ichiban has confirmed that the brand’s last day of operations was 6 June 2022, “Ever since the pandemic kicked in, our business has dropped due to closed borders between Mainland China and Hong Kong. The competition has been intense under the pandemic, and we only had four branches left in Hong Kong from May.”

The spokesperson added that most of the employees were prepared for the shuttering of the store, and have been very understanding to the company. “Everyone is so reluctant to leave, but we know that it is unavoidable, since the rent is due soon, we cannot afford any further costs," said the spokesperson. 

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