Maxwell Food Centre is a popular eating spot for Singaporeans and tourists alike, with several famous stalls to tantalise one’s taste buds.
With the opening of an MRT station just next door, the place has only gotten more accessible and thus, more crowded.
It’s probably not surprising, then, that someone was willing to bid as much as S$6,111 to open a drinks stall there.
Source: Jnzl on Flickr
It’s reportedly the highest-ever rental for a drinks stall at the food centre.
According to a list of successful hawker stall bidders for September released by the National Environment Agency (NEA), three people won bids for stalls in Maxwell Food Centre.
One of them was Loh Jwee Hua, who bid S$6,111 to open a drinks stall at #01-012.
Source: National Environment Agency
Another NEA list of the five highest tender bids for each stall revealed that though Loh’s bid was the highest, at least four others made substantial bids for this stall.
The next highest bids in descending order were S$4,800, S$4,681, S$4,000 and S$3,268.
Meanwhile, a bidder has rented out another stall selling cooked food for S$5,699.
One possible reason why people were willing to bid so much for the stall is its location.
According to Shin Min Daily News, #01-012 is next to the popular Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, which occupies #01-010 and #01-011.
That means there will be heavy footfall in the area as locals and tourists might buy a drink after patronising Tian Tian.
No wonder the winning bid of S$6,111 is the highest rental ever for a drinks stall in Maxwell Food Centre, noted Shin Min, quoting data from public tenders since March 2012 till now.
An anonymous drinks stall owner at Maxwell Food Centre told the paper that there are already 14 drinks stalls there.
As they sell about the same products, competition is fierce. Stalls need to come up with new ideas to stand out, he said.
He added that the S$6,111 rental is about 20 times more than that of the first-generation stallholders, who might pay just S$300 a month.
That’s not even counting other expenses like table cleaning fees and utility bills.
If one factors these in, the new stall would have to sell 500 cups a day to break even, he estimated.
The former proprietors of a minced pies stall at Circuit Road Hawker Centre would understand the struggle well.
They had to close their stall in April due to high rental making it impossible to break even.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Jnzl on Flickr.
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