More than half of stallholders at Toa Payoh kopitiam pull out after rent doubles

Faced with a doubling of their rental fees under a new management, more than half the stalls at a coffeeshop in Toa Payoh decided not to renew their contracts. 

According to Shin Min Daily News on Saturday (May 14), six out of 10 stall holders at a coffeeshop located in Blk 233, Toa Payoh Lorong 8, will not be returning once their lease expires on May 31.

Some of the stallholders have been operating in the coffeeshop for more than a decade.

Out of the nine hawkers at the stall, three had already decided to wind up their businesses at the beginning of the year for various reasons, reported Shin Min Daily News. The last, a drinks stall, is owned by the owner of the coffeeshop.

After a recent change in management, the remaining hawkers were informed that their rent would be increased after a month-long renovation period beginning June 1.

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One 60-year-old hawker, surnamed Yu, told Shin Min Daily News that he had received information two weeks ago that his rent would be doubled, from $3,000 a month to $6,000 a month.

Yu has been running an economic bee hoon stall at the coffeeshop for 30 years.

He was also told that the new space allocated after the renovation would also be slightly smaller. Thus, Yu decided not to renew his contract, adding that he would be taking a break for a while.

A hawker, Peng, 72, who runs an economic rice stall, told the Chinese evening daily that his rent was adjusted from $2,800 to $5,500.

The amount does not include the $1,200 fee for the clearing of plates and "a few hundred" for other miscellaneous fees. These would make the monthly cost swell to $7,000, said Peng.

Peng added that stallholders were told they have to purchase basic cooking ingredients such as rice, sugar and oil from the management's designated suppliers.

"I always look around to find the cheapest prices. With this rule, how will I be able to manage my cost?" asked Peng.

When contacted by Shin Min Daily News, the owner of the coffeeshop, surnamed Su, said similar requirements on suppliers are enforced in other coffeeshops as well.

He added that rental fees were adjusted by the new management "according to the market rate". He also explained that as the coffeeshop is old, the extensive renovation required will incur a hefty cost.

"Previously, stallholders were not asked to pay for plate-clearing or cleaning fees," explained Yu on why tenants may be feeling the pinch.

Su also signalled that business at the coffeeshop had been poor due to stall owners reducing their operating hours.

He stated that some stalls would only be open for half or day, or for three or four days a week, adding that customers might be put off by this in the long run.

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However, Peng told Shin Min Daily News that he decided to close the stall earlier at 6pm rather than 8pm during the pandemic due to the lack of customers.

One stallholder who owns the zichar stall concurred. He added that pre-Covid, most of their customers had been foreign workers working or living nearby. However, due to the pandemic, most of them had returned to their home country.

"My stall was the only one open at night, but business still wasn't good," said the stallholder surnamed Qiu, adding that he had to rely on business generated by food delivery platforms to survive.

Qiu shared that he would be moving to a stall at Cambridge Road next month, where he would only have to pay $4,000 a month, including miscellaneous fees. 

candicecai@asiaone.com