12 Failing Businesses Because of Covid-19

Alux.com listed about 15 businesses impacted negatively by Covid-19, we have picked 12 of them:

1. Malls and High Street Shops

Social distancing and Covid-19 are having the effect of less people visiting malls and high street shops. Partly due to lockdown and partly due to personal choice of not wanting to be in a high-risk category. The shopping mall industry in Malaysia will lose more than RM750 million during this MCO period. Many customers have switched to on-line purchases.

Suria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur as the movement control order kicks in on March 18, 2020.

— Picture by Firdaus Latif

2. Restaurants and Bars

New York Governor ordered lockdown in mid-March which means bars and restaurants are closed for business. Same in Malaysia with the MCO. Employees are at risk of losing their jobs because of the restrictions imposed. Employers will find it hard to meet rental payments and other overheads.

3. Musical Events/ Festivals

No one is taking any chances. Event managers, stage crew, food vendors and musical talents are all on a break. They now need to look at other ways of reaching their audiences.

4. Sporting Events

Barclays Premier League is on suspension, the Tokyo Olympics has been postponed, and every local league in sports is on an unscheduled break. Athletes and sports persons have to keep in shape watching YouTube or some other means.

Argentina’s Racing Club and Peru’s Alianza Lima played a match without the public

on March 12. — Agustin Marcarian/AFP

5. Beauty Service Industry

The beauty service industry (including barber shops) are closed because of Covid-19. Touching the face is a strict “no-no” and the industry has little choice but to shut. That includes massage parlours and karaoke centres.

6. Gyms and Fitness Industry

Sweat and contact with others make gyms and fitness centres unsustainable in this environment. Smaller gyms are especially prone to permanent shutdown.

7. Weddings and Funeral Industry

Weddings are now generally postponed while funerals are “on ice”. Event managers, food caterers, photographers, and function halls are all impacted. Authorities now control numbers (10 or less) for any event.

8. Cinemas, Theatres, Museums and Art Galleries

People have moved to Netflix or other cable TV to keep themselves entertained. Social distancing limits any gatherings.

How MBO Cinemas adopted “social distancing” before MRO. – Soya Cincau

9. Airlines and Travel Agencies

Travel bans of course restrict travel and many are experiencing more than 50% drop in sales. All airlines, hotels, travel agencies and allied sectors have been severely impacted.

Global airports turn into parking lots as Covid-19 idles planes. - REUTERS pic

10. Cruise Line Industry

Diamond Cruise had 700 passengers with the virus out of a total of 3,700 passengers. Then we have the Grand Princess Cruise having 21 people tested positive. The issue for many cruise ships was where to dock and get passengers back to their home country. Passengers now demand a full refund while the holding companies of these cruise liners are hit by 60% (or more) of their stock price.

11. Large Factories

Many factories provide the perfect environment for the virus to spread. If it is a full shut down like in Wuhan, it sets back production schedules, revenue and output.

12. Hotel Sector

Hotels around the world are now shut or on a very low occupancy mode. Some have become quarantine centres. Others could become temporary hospitals. Bankruptcy and employees losing jobs have become the norm. In the U.S,the hotel sector will lose USD1.4 billion in revenue every week if it is not operational. And over 4 million people will lose their jobs (in the U.S.) from this sector alone.

This all sounds like “doom and gloom”. But remain strong. In fact, there are businesses booming in the coronavirus environment (and that’s for another article), which gives hope to some!

Reference:

1.     Alux.com YouTube

2.     Shopping mall industry could lose over RM75 million during MCO, 24 Mar 2020, The Edge