Re-start after the Coronavirus spread in China. An exclusive interview

In the context of the Coronavirus outbreak in Europe, we have received several queries from CINET members and partners asking how the Chinese PTC companies managed to deal with the crisis situation that happened in Asia at the begining of the year. We asked The China Laundry Association (CLA) and Beijing Fornet Laundry Service, China) to share the companies’ experiences during the problematic coronavirus outbreak. The questions were answered as follows:

To what extend did you have to close down your shops and how did the process of re-opening go?

Answer: Because it was just during the holidays of Chinese Spring Festival when Corona occured at the beginning all over the country, the shops were closed for the holiday and chose not to open.  We opened the laundry in our headoffice on Feb.10, and there were very few Fornet laundries opened as normal as the other years. By now, there are 95% of our own shops have opened and more than 80% of our franchisees’ shops have opened. Most of the shops chose the opening time by following the government’ policy and we should apply for the open at the beginning. By now, the government encourage the shops to open and recover the economy, some restaurants opened these days.

Did you take specific measures to protect your employees?

Answer: Yes, we have some special measures to protect our employees such as facial mask, gloves, protection cloths in some areas  and we send some new requirements for the process to gurantee the safety of the cloth and employees.

Are you taking specific measures to manage customers in this situation of panic and fear?

Answer: Yes, we make some communication about the information of the safety of the cloths with the customers and we provide home service and on line service, also we provide service without touch.