Hong Kong wedding banquet firm sets new record for Lunar New Year stall – and expects to lose money
ClubOne paid HK$820,000 for prime site at fair entrance; last year its winning bid was HK$630,000
As the hammer went down on Monday, ClubOne chief executive George Wong Fuk-wah knew that no matter how much money the stall would make during the Victoria Park fair from January 22 to 28, it would not be able to cover costs.
“We have done the maths. What we make will definitely not be able to cover the costs,” a smiling Wong said. “Last year, we invested about HK$2 million and we lost HK$500,000. But it’s still worth it.”
Wong’s company won last year with a bid of HK$630,000. Together with other expenses including decoration and turning the area into a Japanese spring festival, it cost HK$2 million.
He admitted that he felt “a little bit” of heartache having to splash out so much on the 7.6m by 4.8m stall at the entrance to Victoria Park, believing at first it would cost the company around HK$500,000.
Still, he said, it was worth the money as long as Hongkongers had fun at the most important festival in Chinese culture.