Business and services flourish to serve people going to watch the parade

Many coffee shops extend their hours to serve parade-goers. Photo: Minh Hoa

Many forms of business have been established along the routes where the parade passes. Group reservation services cost from 500,000 VND to 2 million VND, depending on the location and number of people. An army of street vendors is everywhere, providing everything from paper fans, flags, flowers for 5,000-10,000 VND.

Plastic chairs and raincoats cost 20,000-40,000 VND each, renting tarpaulins and carpets costs 100,000-200,000 VND, to save money you can buy cardboard for only 20,000-30,000 VND.

Many shops selling paintings and sports equipment on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street have quickly switched to selling flags, clothes printed with the red flag with a yellow star, tarps and cardboard. Nearby households have opened services selling boxed meals, instant noodles and motorbike parking for 50,000 - 100,000 VND, depending on the time.

Ms. Phan Huong, owner of a beef noodle shop on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, said that the whole neighborhood has switched to selling items to serve people waiting to watch the parade, such as fast food, corn, french fries, bread, and chairs.

Parking and cleaning services are also booming. Photo: Minh Hoa

“These days, the shop has also switched to selling soft drinks because of the skyrocketing demand. Instead of serving only 20 customers eating in, the shop sells more than 100 cups of juice per session, with an average price of 50,000 VND per cup, earning about 5 million VND in revenue,” said Ms. Phan Huong.

Meanwhile, on streets such as Trang Tien, Hang Bai, Le Duan, Lieu Giai - Van Cao, there are also many services that follow suit. Ms. Hong, the owner of a cafe near Quan Ngua Sports Palace (Ba Dinh Ward), said that plastic chairs for rent cost 20,000 - 50,000 VND each.

Many cafes set up chairs for people to rent to watch the parade. Photo: Minh Hoa

Ms. Minh Lan, who went with her family group, shared that there was no shortage of anything here. The whole family's lunch was solved with boxed lunches for 100,000 VND/meal and instant noodles for 50,000 VND/box. Hearing that the weather forecast was rainy, she only needed to spend an extra 100,000 VND to rent a large umbrella, which would be delivered to her door when needed.

In addition to accompanying services, many cafes along the parade routes also adjust their opening and closing hours to serve customers who 'camp' overnight.

At 11:30 p.m., Nyna Coffee on Nguyen Khac Can Street was still lit. Mr. Ngoc Son, the manager, said that despite opening longer hours, Nyna Coffee did not charge extra or increase the price of drinks. The shop only charged extra fees for customers who wanted to keep their belongings overnight.

During the days when it opened late, Ngoc Son said the restaurant recorded a significantly higher number of customers than usual. On the evening of August 29 alone, there were quite a few tables reserved overnight by groups of guests waiting to watch the parade.

At many coffee shops, the demand for reservations from people watching the parade has also increased, leading to stricter booking conditions, customers must deposit 50% - 100% in advance to reserve a seat. Some shops also stipulate that customers who arrive late will lose their seats and deposits. Some shops such as Garden Coffee on Lieu Giai Street list a deposit of 200,000 VND/seat for the preliminary and final rehearsal days and 280,000 VND/customer on September 2nd only.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/no-ro-kinh-doanh-dich-vu-phuc-vu-nhan-dan-di-xem-dieu-binh-714640.html