As the nightlife scene in Malaysia takes a fatal hit following the Covid-19 pandemic, one famous nightspot has decided to call it quits.
The Beach Club Cafe, located at one of Kuala Lumpur’s clubbing hub, will no longer light up the streets of Jalan P. Ramlee as it closes down due to the low number of tourists.
With the pandemic putting the tourism industry on hold, the nightclub has been struggling to stay afloat without its international clientele after operating for more than 20 years. When compared to the other clubs that has also shut down, Beach Club is definitely one of the biggest nightspot to close its doors since the implementation of the first Movement Control Order (MCO) back in March.
The group behind the club, Trend Matrix Enterprise Sdn Bhd, informed that the closure of their signature outlet is indefinite. Nevertheless, the glory days of the nightspot might only exist in the past now, as restrictions such as crowd size and social distancing will still apply long after the virus stopped being a threat.
According to FMT, Trend Matrix managing director Judy Ng said that they are a 95% international tourist-based business. She explained, “Our primary customers were tourists from all over the world and we had to close as we were unable to stretch our losses since March.”
Even though most sectors of the economy were reopened in June, clubs and bars were only allowed to open if they served food alongside alcohol. The new rule eventually caused Beach Club to reopen partially for dine-in and takeaway, but it didn’t work too well for them.
It is reported that the club tried to sell its glassware, tableware and other items at a carpark near the premises last week. Back before the virus started crashing parties, the nightspot has been frequented by foreign celebrities and athletes such as Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Michael Schumacher, Mario Balotelli, Bruno Mars and many more, just to name a few.
With number of cases still surging, especially in KL and Selangor, it’s very likely that more clubs will shut its doors due to the low customer count. It doesn’t help that everyone is forced to have their year-end party at home, instead of their favourite nightspot.
Source: FMT
