Bye Bye Haidilao at Clarke Quay: The 13-year history behind 1st S’pore outlet

Haidilao will be closing its first Singapore outlet at Clarke Quay.

In an SMS sent to Haidilao members on Aug. 13, the Chinese hotpot chain announced that its Clarke Quay outlet will cease operations on Aug. 31, 2025, citing the end of its lease as its reason.

The Clarke Quay outlet first opened its doors here in 2012.

It was also the hotpot chain's first international outlet outside mainland China.

Today, Haidilao has over 16 outlets in Singapore and has expanded to various parts of the world, including the U.S, Canada and Australia.

Ervin Yeo, Group Chief Strategy Officer and CEO of Commercial Management at CapitaLand Investment, wrote about how Haidilao began its operations in Singapore.

An excerpt from Yeo's LinkedIn post "Saying byebye to HaiDiLao at Clarke Quay", is reproduced here in an abridged form. 

By Ervin Yeo

After 13 wonderful years, Haidilao at Clarke Quay will be saying bye bye.

In 2012 when Haidilao wanted to open its first overseas outlet outside China, it had trouble securing a location.

At the time, most Singaporeans ate hotpot a couple times a year, including during Chinese New Year (CNY).

Those of us of a certain vintage will recall class outings to the southernmost MRT stop on the red line at Marina South to paktor (going on a date) and eat seafood hotpot at Victor’s Superbowl. Many malls were rightly skeptical about a hotpot concept built on high customer volumes, that wanted a town location.

How Haidilao grew from Clarke Quay

Haidilao and Clarke Quay took a bet on each other, so it opened in Clarke Quay in a then-nondescript second floor unit, not a first floor prime unit.

The rest is history - it became a must-visit destination, with Singaporeans making pilgrimages from all across the island to come queue for hotpot. Both Haidilao and Clarke Quay benefited, as people would take queue numbers then go wander around Clarke Quay and have a couple drinks before whacking some hotpot and take videos of the dancing noodle man with our grainy Blackberries and early-gen iPhones.

In that era, a true flex was if you had some kangtao (an opportunity that provides an advantage) to cut queue or pre-book at Haidilao. Hotpot Aura.

Haidilao made a niche cuisine into a mainstream cuisine. Now, it's considered normal to eat hotpot a couple times a month (some even weekly). And their high touch service standards have elevated customer expectations and hence service standards across the F&B industry here. Many of us would have felt like superstars, to be serenaded by HaiDiLao staff on our birthdays (the Haidilao team knows that half the time, its not really your birthday but they’ll make you feel special anyway!)

Following Haidilao’s success, other well-known China brands tried to open also, like Faigo 大辉哥 and little lamb 小肥羊. The short-lived 大辉哥 hotpot took a prime first floor unit at Clarke Quay, but Haidilao’s magic kept people going back to that nondescript second floor unit. Singaporeans are discerning diners who vote with their tastebuds - if it tastes good and gives good value, consumers don’t quite care where the concept originated.

With the roaring success of the Clarke Quay outlet, Haidilao expanded across Singapore, with more than 20 outlets at one point. Their expansion, along with the entry of other local and imported hotpot concepts, meant that for many Singaporeans, a quality hotpot restaurant is within easy geographical reach at any time, be it mookata in the neighbourhood or a nice hotpot chain in the local mall. Haidilao found a winning model in malls with natural footfalls and complementary trades.

A period of consolidation for Haidilao

Indeed, Haidilao itself is also undergoing a period of consolidation. Many won’t remember but in 2021, Haidilao in China launched an aggressive 瘦身 “slimming” plan called 啄木鸟计划 - Project Woodpecker, where it halted expansion and closed 300 stores across China.

I was based in China then, and that was a very difficult period for the retail sector because many malls had come to count on a large Haidilao unit on the upper floors to drive footfall and as an adjacency to the cinema and other night trades. But that necessary pain resulted in a much stronger Haidilao because it recreated the scarcity value of Haidilao.

Expansion is always a delicate balance, at the start customers are happy to see more locations (more convenient mah). But after a while, the same customers who complained about long queues, would find themselves less keen to go when there aren’t long queues anymore (没队排，消费者不爱). Project Woodpecker made it harder to find Haidilaos, which then made consumers miss it more. 4 years on they now have regained most of the 300 stores they closed, and more. 旧的不去新的不来.

Constant refresh at Clarke Quay

A location like Clarke Quay has to constantly refresh itself and bring in interesting destination concepts that will drive footfall, such as Swee Lee which brings a dynamic crowd to check out vinyls and guitars. The dynamic is different from suburban or town malls where there is more natural footfall.

Given that Haidilao was no longer a singular destination location, we had conversations since last year, and explored a brand refresh or a new dining concept. CapitaLand and Haidilao have been partners for a long time across China, Singapore and Malaysia, and our relationship continued even through Project Woodpecker in China.

We mutually agreed that it's time for HDL to say goodbye to Clarke Quay. HDL gave us plenty of time to find a replacement tenant which will take over the space back-to-back, while we also gave them plenty of time to plan ahead to redeploy their CQ team to nearby outlets at Plaza Singapura, 313 Somerset, Wisma Atria. (We were wondering which news outlet would break the news first, and it turned out to be Mothership heheh)

Haidilao remains at Bugis+, Plaza Singapura and IMM

The joint statement that HDL and CQ put out together is testament to the strong relationship, and Haidilao remains at Bugis+, Plaza Singapura and IMM. Sorry to disappoint those who want to make this all about rent, but the incoming tenant’s rent is lower than HDL - which is testament to HDL’s enduring ability to pull a crowd to a second floor unit even after 13 years and nationwide expansion. Personally speaking, CQ is my daughter’s favourite Haidilao outlet so we now have to find a new favourite!

As for CQ, we have invested $62m to improve the amenities, and will continue to build up the community. Besides the well known nightlife venues, we have lifestyle offerings like Swee Lee’s multi-concept music space, and fitness studio REVL. Pet lovers can explore FURRY TALES, the first flagship pop-up for the newly launched pet fashion label by Daniel Boey, and Fort Canine Swimming Club. If you haven’t been to CQ in a while, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find the halal Malayan Settlement with their non-alcoholic cocktails, IL Clay Supper Club and Fu Yuan Dining.

We’ll have more exciting news coming up, but until the end of August, grab your crew and head down to CQ to bid farewell to Haidilao, and reminisce about great times and your magical first Haidilao experience. And these lyrics will be familiar to anyone who has dined at a Haidilao: 把所有的烦恼说byebye,对所有的快乐说HiHi,亲爱的亲爱的生日快每一天都精彩！

Photo via Haidilao Singapore/Facebook