A number of restaurants and coffee shops have been shuttered over the course of a week on one of the busiest dining streets in Ho Chi Minh City for unknown reasons.

The happenings have gone on down Phan Xich Long Street in Phu Nhuan District, which is just next to the city center.

The street is home to many of the city’s most popular restaurant and coffee franchises, making the rental cost of retail spaces there almost as spendy as those in the CBD.

According to a representative of a franchiser which runs a drinks shop on Phan Xich Long Street, it can cost up to US$15,000 a month to lease a prime location on this street. 

Over the past week, a handful of restaurant and café brands have closed their retail spaces on Phan Xich Long, according to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters' observation.

The Palan coffee shop operator announced the suspension of its store on Phan Xich Long Street via a Facebook post last week, while a Doha Café location on the same street has also been closed down since February 24 although it was only launched in September last year.

Likewise, Terra Coffee & Tea closed its store on this street after only seven months operating there, while still maintaining normal business at its four other branches.

Nguyen Thu Oanh, the operations manager of Doha’s management company, told Tuoi Tre that the overpriced cost of retail spaces there has caused many “difficulties” for its business.

Meanwhile, a Terra Coffee & Tea representative only mentioned some “private reasons” for its store close-down.

Both of these café brands said the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic has left negative impacts on their businesses, but not significantly.

Other restaurant chains, such as Food House and Honki Udon, also made similar sudden shutdowns of its stores on Phan Xich Long Street in the past week.

COVID-19, which first surfaced in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, has infected over 95,000 people and killed nearly 3,300 globally, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

In Vietnam, the virus infected a total of 16 people, all of whom have fully recovered. The country has not reported new infections since February 13.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc noted a “declining growth rate” across many sectors of the economy as he chaired a regular government meeting in Hanoi on Tuesday, according to the official Vietnam News Agency.

He demanded “maximum possible assistance” to production and business activities given the complications of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!