A hawker stall at Block 4A Eunos Crescent Market and Food Centre was tendered at S$5,555 during the National Environment Agency (NEA)'s latest round of hawker stall biddings.
It was the highest recorded bid for hawker stalls islandwide for June 2023.
The second highest bid was for a stall at Bendemeer Food Centre at S$5,000 per month.
Previous owner left due to high costs
Speaking to 8world, the previous owner of the stall at Eunos Crescent Food Centre said that he chose to close down his business due to the small amount of traffic in the area and high operating costs.
He had been operating the stall for four years. "It's not easy to do business here," he lamented.
He mentioned that on top of rent, goods and services tax (GST) and other expenses, monthly expenses cost around S$9,000.
"I heard that the new stall will sell Nasi Lemak, they have a stall in Tampines," the former owner added. "If the food is good, even if it's expensive, customers will still come."
According to the NEA website, the new owner of stall 01-08 will sell halal cooked food or Indian cuisine.
Marginal profits
The pricey $5,000 bid at Bendemeer Food Centre surprised many vendors.
"S$5,000 is too expensive," one vendor said to 8world.
"This is a market. What are you going to sell? Are you going to sell a plate for S$10, S$20? How are you going to make money?"
Another vendor said that paying $3,000 to $$4,000 in rent is already unsustainable for a family-run business, much less S$5,000.
In order to make marginal profits, vendors need to operate for an entire day to cater to lunch and dinner crowds.
Hiring extra hands like stall assistants pushes up operating costs even more.
A more in-depth guide on hawker stall bidding
In order to own a hawker stall in Singapore, one must tender for a stall under NEA's monthly tender exercise, which is usually held from the 13th to the 26th of each month.
https://mothership.sg/2023/07/biddi...ls-at-eunos-crescent-bendemeer-exceeds-s5000/
