Horizon Food Mall in trouble

QX179R SG

Trouble on the Horizon

Tenants at Horizon Food Mall in Causeway Point shopping centre were shocked this morning when they were told the food court would be closed today.

Steven Ong owns a yong tow foo stall in the eatery.

"The boss suddenly called up in the morning to say that the food court will stop operations from today onwards. But all my things have already been prepared and workers have already started working. Today, I lost about $1,500 to $2,000. The food that's wasted is about $1,500 like that."

Mr Ong adds, this sudden turn of events has taken place just a day before the stall owners receive one of their pay checks for the month.

He usually receives between $15,000 and $20,000 from the food court operator.

"We get our paychecks on the 20th and the 5th every month. He takes all our daily sales and pays us half on the 5th and another half on the 20th. This, after deducting the rent, cleaning or other miscellaneous and we get the remainder back."

Stall owners say they tried contacting the food court operator but been unsuccessful.

And the food court manager told them he was unable to clarify the situation, saying he was just told to cease operations.

A spokesperson from Causeway Point says, the closure is due to some unresolved issues between the food court operator and its cleaning service provider.

He adds, the mall management has assisted to provide Horizon Food Mall with alternative cleaning contractors.

--938Live

Hello Kitty SG

got the korean food stall?

dat one is my korean frd.

QX179R SG

Horizon Food Mall remains closed

Two days have passed and Horizon Food Mall in Causeway Point shopping centre still remains closed.

And its tenants have suffered losses amounting to thousands of dollars due to this closure.

One of them, Steven Ong says, he was told that the owner may re-open the food court in the next few days.

"I have received news that he will be calling us to open on either Tuesday or Wednesday. But we have not considered this yet. This is because we want to pursue our compensation from the day he closed down and also these few days when we were closed for business."

The food court unexpectedly halted operations a day before the stall owners were due to receive one of their pay cheques.

And because of this, some feared that they would not receive their hard-earned cash.

However, Mr Ong says, the operators handed him his pay cheque on time.

" I feel a bit happy, but not totally as I need to see if the cheque goes through or not. We have received a call from the other tenants saying that they have already received their cheques."

The stall owners will be organising a meeting to discuss their next plan of action.

That's because some of their leases will expire at the end of the month and they are worried the operators will not return them their security deposit.

Leonard Loo who's a lawyer says, they can pursue legal action if they don't receive their money.

"They can sue the landlord for the return of the security deposit. They can get a lawyer to issue a letter of demand and if payment is not made within a certain time, they can file a claim in court."

A spokesperson from Causeway Point says, the food court closure is due to some unresolved issues between the operator and its cleaning service provider.

--938Live

QX179R SG

Banquet Holdings to take over Horizon food mall, opens on Thursday

Horizon Food Mall which closed down over the weekend will resume operations this Thursday under a new operator.

Banquet Holdings Pte Ltd will take over the food centre at Causeway Point and rename it Mega Food Mall.

It was revealed today the new operator had already signed a lease with the shopping mall to take over the food centre on the fifth level of the building in January.

The company decided to start operations early, after the unexpected closure of Horizon Food Mall on Saturday.

Currently 14 out of the 26 food stalls have decided to stay on with the new operator.

Banquet Holdings, which operates another food court on the 7th level of Causeway point, has also asked the food stall owners for a month’s worth of deposit, amounting to $7,000 if they wish to operate till the end of next month.

--938Live

I-like-flings(m) SG

hard earn money gone.... and government doing anything about it??.. the rich will just richer and the poor just get poorer

sbst275 SG

Been hearing abt the rising rental resulting in e current problem

rental rising cos govt saying property prices up good for people ma (end up pay more property tax)

I'll say tis, 1980s $70k 1 HDB flat is still a flat, now $270k HDB flat is still a flat.

QX179R SG

Mega Food Mall opens for business

It has shaped up to be a merry Christmas after all for the tenants of Horizon Food Mall, which reopened on Thursday under new management after a sudden shutdown last weekend.

But while the food stall operators in Causeway Point are glad to recoup losses after a week of lost business, they are now grappling with another problem - retrieving their deposits from their previous landlord.

Mr Andy Lim, 47, who owns a roast duck and fish soup stall, said he is owed $26,000 in deposits. But he estimated that some stallholders who rented bigger stalls are owed up to $40,000 by their former landlord, a company called Horizon Foodmalls (Causeway).

On top of that, some stallholders said they are also due their share of the foodcourt's takings for this month.

Stallholders said they have yet to hear from Horizon. Horizon's director, Mr Mark Lim, did not answer repeated calls by The Straits Times to his home and office.

The Horizon Food Mall made the news earlier this week after its sudden closure last Saturday left tenants fretting about lost business.

--ST