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Lan Kwai Fong was one of the globe's great nightlife areas when I arrived in Hong Kong in 1995.
These were the heady years before Hong Kong's handover in 1997, and the drinking and dining district that had sprouted up in two run-downwardly Central backstreets was at its peak.
Tourists and locals akin thronged bars such equally California, Club 97, Yelts Inn and Le Jardin. And they came in such huge numbers that on New Year's Eve in 1992, a stampede on the jam-packed streets left 21 people crushed to death in a crowd estimated at up to 20,000 strong.
It was crazy, carefree and unique. Patrons spilled out of confined onto the streets, and the sense of camaraderie, of existence role of an enormous but sectional party, was incredible.
Emma Sebrof
Now, the district is a shadow of its erstwhile cocky and the roaring '90s a distant memory. A visit to the district during happy 60 minutes on May 1 – 2 days afterward bars were allowed to re-open later a v-month shutdown – found about a quarter of ground-floor venues shuttered and the survivors lucky to have more than one table occupied.
The loss of business caused by the double whammy of the 2019 protests and the regime-ordered shutdowns during the ongoing pandemic were the terminal nails in the coffin for many venues, simply Lan Kwai Fong had been losing its lustre for years before that.
"The gradual change in Lan Kwai Fong over the years since the handover mirrors the evolution of Hong Kong as a urban center in full general," said Emma Sebrof, grouping full general director of Eclipse Hospitality Group, which recently closed its Lan Kwai Fong venues Café Siam and Havana Bar.
"The '90s were the '90s and you cannot plough the clock back."
What went incorrect in Lan Kwai Fong?
Many sometime venue operators and industry veterans we spoke to recently all pointed to the same problems: the proliferation of 7-11 outlets, competition from newer nightlife areas such as SoHo, the construction site resulting from the redevelopment of California Tower from 2011 to 2015, the anti-regime protests and the pandemic – plus, the countless increases in hire.
Lan Kwai Fong is a rectangular district comprising the upper stretch of D'Aguilar Street and the smaller, L-shaped Lan Kwai Fong lane. In the years earlier and immediately after the war, the area was dominated by flower sellers – equally suggested by the translation of its name, "orchid square" – and wedlock brokers.
The story of modern Lan Kwai Fong started in 1978 when the famed nightclub Disco Disco was opened in a basement on and so-dilapidated D'Aguilar Street by the late impresario Gordon Huthart, who dreamed of turning the surrounding expanse into a local version of Tokyo's Ginza commune.
Allan Zeman, the name now virtually associated with Lan Kwai Fong, opened California Restaurant further downwards on D'Aguilar Street in 1983. He bought the entire cake the following year, marking the first of his dominance of the district.
Zeman's Lan Kwai Fong Group drove the development of the expanse during the following decade and information technology remains the biggest landlord in Lan Kwai Fong, controlling a reported 65 per cent of properties.
Initially, upmarket venues such equally Club 97 happily co-existed with unpretentious and wallet-friendly alternatives such as Order 64, but steady increases in rent eventually forced out the more affordable venues. What was left was a homogenised serial of cookie-cutter venues with the highest average potable prices in the world's virtually expensive city.
"I remember Lan Kwai Fong in the 1990s equally being vibrant and energetic, packed with Hongkongers and expats, tourists and businessmen," Sebrof told HKFP. "Corporate credit cards were everywhere, funding wild nights out. Long lunches every Fri were the norm, and nobody went dorsum to the office – the political party continued into the weekend.
"It was crazy, carefree and unique. Patrons spilled out of confined onto the streets, and the sense of camaraderie, of beingness office of an enormous but exclusive party, was incredible. People worked hard and played harder in those days – a cliché I know, but that was what Lan Kwai Fong was all almost."
Simon O'Reilly had similar experiences while working as a barman at venues such every bit F-Finish and the Acropolis during the 1990s.
"Lan Kwai Fong – and Hong Kong'due south nightlife scene in general – was at its peak leading up to the handover. We stayed open up until 6am and were packed most nights. Holidays such every bit Halloween and New year's Eve were completely jammed. People were spending more, drinking more and tipping more."
Change came swiftly to Lan Kwai Fong later on the handover on July i, 1997. The Asian Financial Crunch officially started the next mean solar day with the collapse of the Thai baht. The constant supply of coincidental labour from backpackers dried up. And the libation, hipper SoHo district up the loma started pulling in more than discerning drinkers and foodies in the final years of the millennium.
"There has been a shift towards neighbourhood outlets" such as SoHo and Kennedy Boondocks, said Scott Wrayton, onetime managing director of Schnurrbart, which closed in 2018.
"This has merely been reinforced with the events of the past 2 years and I believe that people's dining and amusement habits take inverse for good. Sure, there is still a crowd that longs for those Lan Kwai Fong nights, but there are and then many other options at present."
Club 7-Xi
The first seismic shift in Lan Kwai Fong started when 7-Eleven arrived in the early Noughties. There are now 3 7-Xi outlets (and 1 Circumvolve K) in the area, all stocking a suspiciously broad range of alcoholic drinks that is unusual for the convenience store chain.
"The introduction of 7-Eleven stores selling cheap alcohol in a nightlife and entertainment area was a accident to many bars who lost a lot of business concern. Patrons still drank their beers on the street and enjoyed the vibe of Lan Kwai Fong, but made no contribution to the revenue of the bars," said Sebrof.
"I remember the start 1 opening side by side to Al'south Diner," Wrayton told HKFP. "Of a sudden everyone out on the street was just ownership drinks from the seven-Eleven. Why wouldn't yous?"
Richard Feldman, former owner of Al'due south Diner and current chairman of the SoHo Association, blamed the opening of that starting time seven-Eleven for the closure of his venue.
"Allow's exist honest: 7-Eleven is for all intents and purposes running a course of bar in Lan Kwai Fong, every bit well as Wan Chai and SoHo," said Feldman, besides a former chairman of the Lan Kwai Fong Clan. "Information technology sells liquor without the need for a liquor licence, which is absurd.
"And most troubling and in my view dangerous of all, it is not bailiwick to the anti-Covid measures that all other confined and restaurants are required to follow. This is shameful and puts the Hong Kong public at risk."
The redevelopment of the 12-storey California Entertainment Building and California Tower into a single 25-storey complex was something of an own goal for the Lan Kwai Fong Group, turning a substantial part of the district into an unappealing construction site between 2011 and 2015.
"When California Tower was redeveloped, this had a big impact on the area and we started to observe a big downturn in business concern," said Wrayton.
"Lan Kwai Fong was a horrible edifice site in a prime location for a long time and lost its vibe and soul," said Phil White potato, a veteran player in Hong Kong'due south nightlife industry. "Its proximity to the real CBD of Central worked in its favour for many years, but inevitably this prime state was always going to be too valuable to not redevelop."
However, a spokeswoman for the Lan Kwai Fong Group denied there was significant disruption to business concern during the California Tower redevelopment every bit "structure was washed during the day".
"In fact, the redevelopment has farther upgraded the district. Upon completion, it has attracted a lot of international brands to Lan Kwai Fong."
Covid-19
More recently, the successive crises of Hong Kong'due south anti-government protests and the coronavirus pandemic accept resulted in an unprecedented number of bars and restaurants closing due to a lack of business.
Although the Lan Kwai Fong Grouping spokeswoman said the vacancy charge per unit among the 130 venues in Lan Kwai Fong had remained constant at around 5 per cent, the shuttered storefronts now lining the streets tell a unlike story.
"Lan Kwai Fong suffered significantly because of the social unrest during the second half of 2019 and was then 1 of the starting time areas to develop a 'cluster' when members of a nightclub band tested positive for Covid in March 2020," said Sebrof.
"When the government ordered the closure of bars and clubs, Lan Kwai Fong almost shut down due to the high density of these businesses in the area. These extended closures also had a devastating effect on restaurants located in Lan Kwai Fong, as there was no foot traffic, no people on the street. Dinner trade dwindled to almost aught."
Sebrof said Café Siam and Havana were only able to survive the downturn for much of 2020 due to rent concessions from their landlord, the Lan Kwai Fong Grouping, and the regime wage subsidy that helped cover payroll costs.
"So, in March 2021, when restaurants were permitted to re-open for dinner service, we hoped for a return to business organization every bit usual, but were shocked that our [Café Siam] restaurant in Lan Kwai Fong saw virtually no dinner trade at all. People didn't come dorsum to the expanse considering the bars and clubs were even so closed.
"The situation in Lan Kwai Fong now is dire. Many well-established operators will non survive this pandemic. Information technology is a tragedy for Hong Kong."
But all along, Lan Kwai Fong venue operators have faced a greater existential threat than a pandemic that has so far killed more than than three million people worldwide: what O'Reilly describes as the district's "rapacious landlords".
Hire increases and greedy landlords are the decease of bars and restaurants… There have been huge increases in rent in Lan Kwai Fong.
Simon O'Reilly
"Hire increases and greedy landlords are the decease of bars and restaurants," he said. "The rents are set equally high as the landlord thinks they tin be. The bar or eatery has to come upward with that money every month or be kicked out. Then, if the business does well, the landlord immediately puts upward the rent, and the struggle starts once more.
"In that location take been huge increases in rent in Lan Kwai Fong. To make ends meet, confined have to cutting corners – such every bit hire fewer staff, raise the prices of drinks – which affects the customer experience and risks losing trade."
Wrayton said at that place used to exist somewhere for everyone in Lan Kwai Fong. "Merely as rents increased, the price of drinks had to likewise. This pushed out many of the smaller operators, and forced those who were left to operate a certain model. Hence it now seems that everywhere is very similar there now, which to me makes it less highly-seasoned," said Wrayton.
Sebrof points out that high rent is not just an upshot for Lan Kwai Fong – it's a trouble all across Hong Kong. "In Lan Kwai Fong, the rent for a ground-floor bar or restaurant is staggering, but when concern is booming operators tin can and volition pay these prices," said Sebrof.
"But I tin can say that high rents in Lan Kwai Fong brought well-nigh the end of many lower-priced watering holes, as higher drinks prices were needed to generate sufficient acquirement to cover the higher rents."
Gone days of glory
The LKF Group spokeswoman said rents in Lan Kwai Fong had increased at the same pace as at other major developments in Hong Kong and information technology was "normal to find this correlation in the economical evolution" of the city.
Feldman as well downplayed the impact of rent increases in Lan Kwai Fong. "For every bar or eating house that leaves Lan Kwai Fong, a new one comes in. Sometimes the concept is right and sometimes it'due south wrong, but for the most part, everyone has to up their game".
And Feldman remains confident in the future of Lan Kwai Fong. "I matter that still amazes me is Lan Kwai Fong'due south power to re-invent itself. There have been many peaks and certainly some valleys, and the market changes and the expanse adjusts to those changes with new and different operators or concepts. This constantly changing dynamic is what keeps Lan Kwai Fong new and exciting."
Sebrof agrees that Lan Kwai Fong should bounce back to the mode it was before the protests and the pandemic. "The hospitality industry attracts 'glass half full' people, and I believe many new and optimistic bar and restaurant people will fill the empty spaces quickly, equally presently every bit people return to the area. Lan Kwai Fong is a identify for socialising and I don't think the pandemic has changed that fundamental human need."
During our visit this calendar month, the just holdout from the pre-handover era nosotros could notice was Le Jardin, ensconced in a quiet alcove above "Rat Aisle", the laneway famed for cheap and cheerful eats that is now completely lined by shuttered stores. The bar's drink prices don't seem to take inverse much since 1997 and the jukebox choice even less.
A barman said Le Jardin and Lan Kwai Fong in full general had not seen a significant rebound in business since bars were officially allowed to reopen. He is quick to stop me when I start talking nearly the bug acquired by Covid-nineteen, saying: "This isn't but nearly the virus – it's been getting worse here year after year for a while."
And does he see any hope of Lan Kwai Fong returning to those glory days of the pre-handover era? "No," he said immediately. "Those days are gone."
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Source: https://hongkongfp.com/2021/05/16/is-the-party-finally-over-for-hong-kongs-lan-kwai-fong/
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