Invested Thousands in Franchise, Made Less Than 200 Yuan, Man smashed tableware in anger

Invested thousands in franchise, made less than 200 yuan, man smashed tableware in anger. The Chinese mainland economy continues to be sluggish, domestic demand is weak, and many catering giants are suffering from heavy losses. Recently, news broke that a man invested more than 100,000 yuan in a franchise store. After opening for a few days, he sold less than 200 yuan and smashed the store to vent his anger. The video circulating on the internet shows that in an empty restaurant, a man said nothing and threw all the prepared dishes on the ground. Despite a woman's attempts to calm him down, the man still said nothing, but instead began smashing the tableware. The scene is quite sad. Some netizens left comments under the video, saying that it is obviously the wrong time to open a store in such a sluggish economy. The Chinese economy is currently in a downturn. In addition to the increasingly serious unemployment problem, the real estate market has also entered a bubble. Many people have begun to be frugal and manage their households. And national consumption power has been hit hard, which in turn impacts the catering industry. Data shows that nearly 30,000 high-priced noodle restaurants in China closed down in the first half of this year, 2024, and the remaining noodle restaurants are gritting their teeth to adjust prices and menu designs. Hoping to expand their customer base from white-collar workers who originally focused on high consumption to ordinary people. The economic winter has quietly frozen people's taste buds. Under the pressure of economic downturn and uncertainty, catering companies have undergone major changes in consumer behavior, intensified competition in the industry, and slim profit margins, with some either closing down or suffering huge losses. According to the Chinese catering industry service platform Catering Boss Insider, the performance of many high-priced noodle restaurants in China has been hit hard. The first is Ajisen Ramen, known as the originator of high-end noodle restaurants. Its first-half financial report data shows that it has turned from profit to loss again, and it is expected to have a net loss of about 20 million yuan in the first half of this year. After the news was exposed, Ajisen Ramen's stock price once fell by more than 22%. The glory of the past, when branches were everywhere, is no longer there. In response, Hong Kong-based Ajisen China later said that one of the main reasons was the decline in store customer flow, which led to negative growth in same-store sales and losses in some stores. However, the economic cold wave has not only frozen China on the tip of the tongue. From the collapse of the real estate market a few years ago, the closure and relocation of export-oriented factories and enterprises, to the decline of the physical retail service industry, the ripple effects are widespread. The Voice of America quoted observers saying that the next wave of domino effects may impact new energy vehicles and asset security. Xie Tian, an expert on Chinese economic affairs and a professor at the Aiken School of Business at the University of South Carolina, expects that the next sector to be hit harder may be China's automobile industry. He said that the CCP's subsidy policy has promoted the rapid development of China's electric vehicle industry, resulting in hundreds of new energy vehicle manufacturers rushing to establish production. Yet, even with subsidies, many are still suffering heavy losses. Without subsidies, these manufacturers may not be able to hold on. And if subsidies continue, the CCP government may not be able to sustain them. Therefore, the next phase for the automobile industry may involve widespread bankruptcies and mergers. Guangzhou's catering industry is in mourning. Well-known chain stores are facing a wave of closures. At the end of October 2024, a photo taken by netizens at the Guangzhou chain bakery Wulitang suddenly spread on the mainland internet. There was only a note posted at the cash register, which was suspected to be handwritten by the store employee. Boss, don't pay. Don't top up. A few days later, many netizens reported online that multiple Wulitang stores in Guangzhou, which once sold egg tarts for one yuan each and sold out instantly, have all closed down. Some stores have letters posted outside, signed by Huang Zhihua, who is the legal representative of Wulitang. According to him, the company has entered the bankruptcy liquidation process due to a broken capital chain. But he also said that he did not run away with the money. He just couldn't endure the situation anymore. After an on-site visit, it was found that Wulitang has many stores in Guangzhou, such as Ergong Binjiang East Road. Although the platform shows that they are still in business, they are actually locked. For instance, the gate of the Ergong store displays information about renting the store space. Wulitang, founded in 2021, has stores in Guangdong, Hainan, Beijing and other cities. The Meituan platform roughly estimates that more than 30 stores have closed down. This has also made many customers who have recharged their membership cards at Wulitang worried. Now they can neither consume nor get a refund and their membership card value may be frozen. Wulitang was like the OK convenience stores of the past, all over the streets. I heard that the front line is now closed, so we went to take a look. The one in Tiuxi is closed and has started to rent out. The one in Yangji is closed, and the one on Dejiang Road is empty and locked. Shuyuan Road is also empty. Searching for the nearest stores here, basically all of them are closed. What's going on? What should you do if you have recharged your membership? It seems that they will all be frozen. Another well-known Guangzhou local catering brand, Guangzhou Qingxin Chicken Sandy Pigeon Shop, also reported a large number of store closures at the end of September. Recently, Guangzhou's well-known catering brand, Guangzhou Qingxin Chicken Sandy Pigeon Shop, known as Qingxin Chicken, closed many branches, which attracted a lot of attention. Then, on October 15, Qingxin Chicken issued a statement to refute the rumor that the person in charge ran away with the money and said that the company has been operating in debt and had no choice but to decide to suspend business and close the store. It is currently following up on issues related to employee compensation, membership cards, and other matters. Since August 2023, the number of Pacific coffee stores in mainland China has been reduced by at least 114, leaving only 71. The Guangdong market has also shrunk significantly, with the number of stores reduced from about 54 to 20, and there will be only 18 stores left. Recently, many Pacific coffee stores have issued notices that they are about to close. In Guangzhou, nearly all stores will be closed. Besides Guangzhou, it is said that stores in many cities will also be closed, with only some retained. This is indeed a large-scale store closure. The reason given by the company is strategic adjustment. In August last year, there were rumors that Pacific Coffee was seeking to introduce strategic investors or sell shares. With the rumored buyer being Lemon Season, a lemon tea company, so it's clear that Pacific Coffee has long sought to exit and sell. They seem not to have found a successor yet. In August 2023, there were over 300 stores, but now there are just over 200. A reduction of more than 100 in one year, with more closures likely in the future. Recently, in September and October, Pacific Coffee closed two more stores in Guangzhou. Now, besides the store at Bayun Airport, only one store on Xingang East Road in the city remains operational. Saint Honoré Bakery, founded in Hong Kong in 1972, also closed six stores in Guangzhou in October, leaving only eight stores operating in the city. Additionally, Daoxiang Restaurant, a subsidiary of Daoxiang Group, founded in 1991 and listed in Hong Kong in 2007, has closed 11 stores in mainland China this year alone, including four in Guangzhou. The latest news on the internet stated that Daoxiang Restaurant closed 11 stores within a year. The affected stores include four in Guangzhou, three in Shanghai, and one each in Huizhou, Foshan, Zhongshan, and Wuxi. Currently, Daoxiang Restaurant has only 27 stores left, with three in Dongguan, located in Nancheng, Chang'an, and Hengli. There are differing opinions online about this wave of restaurant brand closures. But judging by this year's big data, the sharp rise in the number of restaurant closures is indeed unusual. Programmer Zhang Heng arrived at the Huanyu Building in Phase 1 of Zhongguankun Software Park as usual. This is the location of IBM's Software R&D Center. Early Saturday morning, Zhang Heng received an email from IBM headquarters addressed to all employees. The day before, his and his colleagues' intranet access had been revoked. The email notified them of an online meeting scheduled for Monday. It was the longest weekend Zhang Heng had ever experienced. The meeting started on time that morning. IBM's vice president of global enterprise system development spoke first, saying it had been a very difficult decision, but the development tasks in China would be transferred to other overseas bases. Immediately afterward, the general manager in charge of IBM and LinuxOne, and the vice president of storage engineering, also spoke. The three executives concluded the meeting in less than three minutes. In a few short sentences, the fate of IBM's China R&D Center was sealed. Thousands of employees across Beijing, Shanghai, and Dalian, including those from the China Development Laboratory, CDL, and the China Systems Laboratory, CLS, lost their jobs overnight. From that point on, IBM only maintained consulting, sales, and technical support operations in China. Within the next two days, Zhang Heng received his severance package. There was a two-month buffer period, compensation of N plus three, and the year-end bonus to be paid out the following year. The process moved so quickly that Zhang Heng barely had time to react. It felt like being dumped by a heartless partner, gradually disintegrating, collapsing in an instant. Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises describes a businessman in a desperate situation. Zhang Heng also felt his company disintegrating and crumbling in the same way. It turns out that real departures always happen quietly. IBM's research center in Beijing was established in September 1995. At that time, IBM was the first multinational IT company to set up a and development institution in China. Soon after, other companies like Intel followed suit. That same year, Huawei established a research institute in Beijing, focusing on the newly emerging field of data communication. When IBM entered China, it was actually going through a financial crisis. Years of losses had piled up, totaling more than $16 billion. Lew Gerstner, the CEO at the time, tried various approaches and began implementing a series of reform strategies. By 1997, IBM had returned to profitability. On Christmas Eve that year, Ren Zhengfei visited many IT giants, including IBM. Unlike other companies, IBM did not treat Ren with suspicion. Instead, they spent a whole day explaining project management to him. It was this open attitude that won IBM its first management consulting business in China. They quickly put together a plan and sent 70 consultants to Huawei. Depending on their level, the consultants earned $300, $500, or $680 per hour. In 1998, Huawei's total sales were only 8.9 billion yuan. Nevertheless, Huawei agreed without hesitation. Ren Zhengfei said that the reform assistance IBM provided was like a pair of American shoes. Even if the heels were cut off, they still had to be worn. The prescription IBM gave to Huawei was called Integrated Product Development, IPD. Before the reform, Huawei's R&D departments were independent and fragmented. Afterward, R&D became a market-driven process. At the time, Huawei already had 20,000 employees. But due to the tough reforms, 30% of the staff in the chip R&D department alone left. When IPD was introduced, Huawei had already invested two years in 3G R&D. Back then, 2G was still the mainstream, and developing 3G was an uncertain venture. But IPD turned that venture into a clearly structured process. We all know what happened next. It was 3G that pushed Huawei to new heights. By June 2003, IBM consultants had left Huawei's R&D building in Bantian, Shenzhen. By then, IPD thinking had become deeply ingrained in Huawei's operations. A team of internal process experts trained by Huawei was ready to take over from the IBM consultants. When people looked at IPD again, it was 2021. In the wave of new car manufacturing, Li Auto was the first car company to announce it would fully adopt Huawei's IPD approach. More than 20 years ago, Huawei required its executives to read The Power of Pace. This was the exact book that IBM executives had given to Ren Zhengfei. More than 20 years later, many of the books on Li Xiang's reading list for executives are related to Huawei's IPD. One of the important research products of IBM's China Research Institute was Watson. Watson is the precursor to large language models. It was developed five years before AlphaGo defeated Go champion Li Sedol and 11 years before ChatGPT. IBM actually took only four years to develop Watson. At that time, there were a total of 30 researchers worldwide participating in the project. In addition to the United States, Japan and Israel, China was also involved. Until it was shut down in 2021, Watson remained the flagship product of the China Research Institute, and it did experience a period of commercial success in China. IBM first ventured into the field of clinical applications for cancer treatment. IBM commissioned a consulting company to conduct a survey at the time, and they found that in some areas of northeast China, doctors' treatment plans for cancer patients aligned with standard guidelines. However, building a hospital information system is extremely expensive. For high-end private hospitals, the cost may reach hundreds of millions of dollars. Additionally, doctors' interests were deeply tied to pharmaceutical companies, and the introduction of Watson would undoubtedly disrupt these relationships. Even in the face of these challenges, Watson entered the market in 2016. By analyzing 300 medical journals, over 200 textbooks, and nearly 15 million pages of text, Watson was able to assist oncologists in formulating treatment plans. By 2018, Watson's medical system had spread to nearly 80 hospitals in 22 provinces and 43 cities in China. Sales revenue from the Greater China Region accounted for half of Watson Medical's global quarterly revenue. The digitalization of China's banking industry started with IBM. In the 1980s, the People's Bank of China launched the YBS Bank Insurance System project, and a key part of this was the introduction of the IBM 360 system. The digitalization of 13 Chinese banks in Hong Kong was also facilitated by IBM. In 1987, IBM's customized Safe2 system for ICBC was rolled out on a large scale. Soon, the Bank of China and China Construction Bank followed suit. At that time, most banks still operated manually, keeping accounts by hand. IBM began with banks, and as its business expanded, it leveraged its customer base and servers to sell software and services, becoming a dominant force. However, this honeymoon period didn't last long. For well-known reasons, the banking industry began phasing out the IOE system starting in 2013.