2024-03-19 05:15:20
The Chinese Internet celebrity brand “Panda Can’t Take Cake”, which was selected as a research case in the Harvard Business Review, suddenly closed down, and employees posted a message asking for help. Before losing contact, founder Yang Zhenhua apologized to employees in a work group, saying that he was unable to save the company due to management decisions and the epidemic. At present, I have spent everything I have, but I am still unable to pay off my debts. It was reported that the company owed more than 60 million yuan in salary arrears to employees and advance payments from customers.
The “Panda Can’t Leave Cake” with a central kitchen allows you to order online, and the “Panda Man” delivers cakes to your doorstep free of charge and provides dancing, magic and other performances. The store has branches in 24 cities including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Chengdu, and has more than 20 million users. But recently, the company suddenly heard news that its capital chain was broken, leading to its closure. The official Weibo account of “Panda Can’t Take Cake” published a post on March 16 titled “Employees Asking for Salary”. Netizens said that the company’s founder Yang Zhenhua lost contact on the 15th, and thousands of employees have not been paid their wages for three or four months, and their social security provident funds have been cut off. , had no choice but to speak out online.
“Southern Metropolis Daily” reported that multiple employees confirmed this Sunday (17th) that the company suddenly announced a shutdown on the afternoon of the 16th, and many deliverymen were still delivering cakes at that time. Before the company closed down, Yang Zhenhua apologized to employees in the work group, saying that due to internal and external reasons such as management decisions and the epidemic, he still could not save the company. He said that he had spent all his money before and was unable to repay his debts, so he would accept the handling of the matter by the court police.
Left: Employees of “Pandas Don’t Walk Cake” said online that the company’s boss Yang Zhenhua has lost contact, nearly a thousand employees have not been paid their wages for three or four months, and the DingTalk company group has suddenly disbanded. Picture on the right: On Monday (18th), Yang Zhenhua, the owner of “Panda Can’t Take the Cake” said that he made a mistake in decision-making, sorry for shareholders, and strived to auction assets to repay debts. (Internet screenshot/provided by Guting)
In an interview with Radio Free Asia on Tuesday, Mr. Liang, a Shanghai resident, said that after three years of the epidemic, many local bakeries and retail stores have closed down, and the service industry has been depressed. This is due to the sharp decline in residents’ spending power: “Now the society is in a recession, and physical stores are closed. They are everywhere, and they are all in debt. Now because people have no purchasing power, and many places cannot even pay wages.”
Employees revealed that their boss had “lost contact”. The boss said that blind expansion caused
According to data from Zhaimen Restaurants, there are 218 “Pandas Don’t Leave” stores. Currently, all are closed. Yang Zhenhua, who once disappeared, finally responded on the 18th, denying that he had “lost contact”, saying that he was raising money to pay employees, and admitted that he was in arrears of wages, supplier payments, and consumer stored-value cards totaling more than 60 million yuan. Jiemian News website reported that on Sunday, a Ms. Zhang who planned to order a birthday cake for her family found that the “Panda Never Go Cake” store near her home was closed, and the 499 yuan she had previously stored was unable to be refunded. Yang Zhenhua said that the deterioration of the company’s operations was mainly due to blind expansion, bank loan withdrawals and the suspension of investment and financing during the COVID-19 epidemic. Regarding whether the company can restart, Yang Zhenhua said that there are already plans under discussion.
Mr. Zhang, a current affairs commentator in Guangzhou, told this station that “Pandas Don’t Walk Cake” is more used to celebrate birthdays and perform dance performances for customers to gain trust: “Go dancing, send birthday congratulations, and provide services to provide its emotional value. This Of course it is a good marketing tool during an economic upturn, but during an economic downturn, non-essential consumption industries are hardest hit.”
All physical stores of “Panda Don’t Take Cake” are closed. (Provided by Weibo/Guting)
Zhang Chen, an employee at the Huizhou headquarters, told the “Daily Economic News” that the company’s senior executives and legal representatives from all over the company went to the headquarters to negotiate on the 15th, hoping that Yang Zhenhua would show up, but in the end he did not show up. After the company group was disbanded, employees formed a mutual aid group. At present, more than 240 employees have registered the amount of wages owed, with the minimum amount being about 2,000 yuan and the maximum amount being about 52,000 yuan.
Selected as a research case in Harvard Business Review
Finance scholar Commander Xiang said in an interview with this station that China’s economy continues to decline, the unemployment rate remains high, and residents’ incomes have decreased. As cakes are non-essential food, the natural demand for cakes has decreased. He said: “For example, cakes, high-end wedding packages, tourism, etc. With the decline of China’s economy in these fields, people’s income has dropped sharply, and the cold winter in these fields has just begun.”
Public information shows that “Panda Don’t Walk Cake” was established in Huizhou, Guangdong in 2017. In 2019 and 2020, it received investments of tens of millions of yuan from Toudou Shidao Fund and IDG Capital, and was selected as a research case in the Harvard Business Review. In 2020, “Panda Don’t Leave” announced that its revenue exceeded 800 million yuan, but it did not expect to collapse four years later.
Reporter: Gu Ting Editors: Chen Meihua, Xu Shuting Online editor: Ruizhe
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