Bai Nian food court at Chai Chee loses S$250,000 in 7 months 'just to keep lights on', family not ready to give up

The owners of Bai Nian Food Court at ESR BizPark @ Chai Chee revealed that the business has lost about S$250,000 over the past seven months as they struggle with poor weekday footfall and difficulties attracting stall owners.

"Cannot let it continue like this"

In an Instagram video uploaded on Aug. 25, second-generation owner Tommy Pang, 29, said the family had lost about S$250,000 "just to keep the lights on at this food court".

"We really cannot let it continue like this," Pang said. "If not, I really have no idea how we're going to continue operating this space."

He said one of the food court's units, previously occupied by a Western food stall, became vacant about a month ago after the operator decided to leave and forfeited the deposit, which was a "big amount".

The family initially considered bringing in an Indian food operator to take over the unit, but was unable to do so.

The family had to come up with a fried chicken cutlet rice stall concept at the last minute as they had "no time to R&D", but this was "short-lived" as well.

Once this closed, the unit remained vacant for three to four months on end.

"We were not able to bring in new tenants into this food court to replace the old tenants that left," he said.

Pang said this was part of a broader problem the family has faced over the years — having to repeatedly come up with new concepts to fill vacant units and keep the food court operating.

Poor footfall

In response to queries from 8days, Pang said the food court's biggest challenge is a lack of footfall.

Business began declining after the Covid-19 pandemic and has not fully recovered, he said.

Some companies have moved out of the business park, while more employees working from home has also led to a dip in the number of people coming to the area.

He added that other F&B outlets in the development are similarly quiet on weekdays.

The food court is typically only 10 to 20 per cent occupied during weekday lunch, Pang said.

Though this picks up at the weekend — the food court can be about 80 per cent full during lunch — the lack of weekday customers has made it difficult to attract stall operators.

Pang said his family rents the food court space from landlord ESR and sublets individual stalls to operators for about S$4,000 a month.

"Even if we rent the stalls out cheaply, it's no use," he said to 8days. "Nobody wants to come in."

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Not ready to give up on the food court

With vacancies becoming increasingly difficult to fill, Pang and his family have resorted to operating more stalls themselves to keep the food court going, according to 8days.

Citing the high rent, Pang he would rather take a stall up himself and start something new than leave it empty.

At present, only one external tenant remains — ban mian stall The Spice Pavilion.

Despite the losses, however, Pang said the family is not ready to give up on the food court.

The family took over the food court nine years ago in 2017, when Bai Nian Yong Tau Foo had only two hawker stalls elsewhere.

By opening a food court under the Bai Nian name, together with its third yong tau foo outlet, it helped put their then-small brand on the map.

Pang also described the food court as his "home", recalling how his family used to visit it every day.

"We really don’t want to give it up," he said.

The family renewed its lease in October 2025, with the current lease running until 2030.

Pang said the business was still manageable at the time, when there were three external tenants operating at the food court.

The situation only worsened over the past four or five months as more tenants left, he said.

Pang added that closing the food court would also affect its 17 employees, noting that his other businesses do not have the capacity to absorb them.

Trying to draw customers

Pang and his team are now trying to attract customers from outside the business park, and they plan to do so through regular social media posts, campaigns, and promotions.

In an Instagram post on Aug. 28, the food court announced a free drinks promotion.

Until Sep. 30, customers who purchase any main dish from the family's six food brands at the food court will receive a free hot drink.

The choices include kopi, tea and yuan yang, while those who prefer a cold drink can top up S$0.50 for an iced version.

Pang also told 8days that he hopes ESR will consider lowering the food court's rent, though he acknowledged that it may also be facing difficulties attracting office tenants to the development.

When asked how much longer he is prepared to keep the food court going, Pang said he did not know.

He said he wants to assess its performance over the next month, and is also hoping for some relief from ESR.

Another alternative is finding another party to take over the food court.

The 29-year-old added that he was aware that most business owners would hesitate about publicising their losses, but believed that being transparent could help, provided it was done carefully.

"For me, I just want people to know the story behind our food court. And over time, I think that trust and connection are very valuable for the business."

He also hopes to eventually show how they are able to bounce back from their current setbacks.

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