Wednesday, April 30, 2003 | 8:31 a.m.
Various Asian businesses have been drastically affected by the SARS scare in Asia, which has both reduced the number of Asian tourists here and curtailed the local trade as well.
At two of the largest Asian malls on Spring Mountain Road, the Center at Spring Mountain and the sprawling Chinatown Plaza Mall, there is business as usual, though not without major ripples.
All buffets, for instance, have been temporarily shut down, and almost everyone has been affected in one negative way or another.
Perhaps no one has been more dramatically (or unjustly) affected than Sammy Nguyen, who is the owner of the Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant Pho Kim Long, also known by its other name, Kim Long Seafood.
This attractive and sumptuous restaurant is decorated with a gallery's worth of Chinese and Vietnamese paintings. The restaurant does double duty as a place for pho, the meal in a bowl Vietnamese noodle soup, and also for live seafood, which is displayed in a series of large tanks in plain view from the dining areas.
Nguyen's story is hard to believe, but it speaks to the fact that rumors often spread far faster than viruses. On April 9 a few of Nguyen's friends called him at his restaurant to inquire if the ugly rumor that a waiter had returned from a trip to Asia and passed away in the restaurant was indeed true.
The next day Nguyen discovered to his chagrin that his restaurant was empty, and began to wonder where all his customers had gone.
Soon casinos were calling him, asking him if the rumor was true. At the same time the health department got wind of the rumor. Within a day they were inspecting the restaurant and, according to attorney Ed Prudhomme, who has maintained a law office in the Center at Spring Mountain for about one year, "they emptied out this place completely for two days."
A second inspection followed, and the results were as follows, from a signed report that Nguyen is showing anyone who asks: "No employees of Pho Kim Long have been ill with respiratory infections, and ... there have been no deaths."
Still, the damage was done. Nguyen has seen a steady and precipitous drop in his business, which has been down almost 50 percent during the last month. Anyone who knows the narrow margins in which restaurants are expected to operate can agree this is a devastating effect.
Nguyen is blaming a nasty competitor, but declines to say who is responsible.
(A similar rumor, for the record, also affected the restaurant Harbor Palace, at the far western end of Chinatown Plaza Mall.)
Meanwhile a raft of other businesses reported a drop in their revenue as well. America Asia Travel, in the Chinatown Plaza Mall, experienced a 60 percent to 70 percent drop in business, and that is telling, because so many of the customers who shop and dine in these malls are visitors from Asia.
A travel agent at America Asia Travel, Iris Cheng, reports that there is virtually no incidental travel to Asia now, but instead only essential business and family travel.
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, for instance, grounded its entire fleet both in Las Vegas and abroad. JAL, Japan Airlines, stopped all April flights to and from Las Vegas. And Singapore Airlines, which offered the only nonstop service between here and the Orient, has temporarily suspended this service.
Cheng also said that travelers from places such as Hong Kong, Beijing and Taipei are often quarantined for 10 days in their hotels before being cleared to travel, and that has led to cancellations en masse.
As a result, these normally bustling restaurants are often quiet and three-quarters empty.
Not all the restaurant owners are happy to discuss the issue, but the evidence speaks for itself. At Dragon Sushi, a manager blanched when the subject was raised, and politely excused herself.
"A customer is waiting," she said. That did not disguise the fact that the restaurant was empty at lunch.
At Shanghai Noon, Chef James Chen was more forthcoming.
"About half of our business is composed of Asians who stay at the casinos, and the casino hosts just aren't sending them." That, coupled with the fact that Asian visitation has dropped so strongly, means a 60 percent drop in his business as well.
But some restaurants have a large following in the local community, hence they are luckier in this crisis. One is the large barbecue chain Sam Woo, which is only down around 30 percent.
True, the barbecue racks don't look as full as they often do, but the dining room is virtually packed at lunch on weekdays. Says Manager Herman Chen, "most of our customers are from here or from California, so we're not as dependent on Asian visitors."
And it is business as usual at the 99 Ranch Market, the huge Asian market that is the anchor of the Chinatown Plaza Mall. At 2 p.m. on a Tuesday the crowds were five deep at the checkout stands. An ethnically diverse crowd shops here, and the prices are highly competitive.
An assistant manager said there was a small hiccup in business for about 10 days, but now things are back to normal.
Other businesses in these malls, such as herbalists, gift stores and bakeries, have not experienced many problems. At the new Sunville Bakery, where a variety of Chinese and Western pastries come individually wrapped in clear, see-through plastic, everything, says the manager, is fine.
And business is up at the local herbalist, T&T Ginseng Inc., also in the Chinatown Plaza Mall. In these nervous and health-conscious times, this shouldn't come as a major surprise.
archive
