Word: chen
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Another winter, and another threat from Cheng-san Chen (owner of Louie’s Superette) to close his convenience store. Last year, following the Cambridge Licensing Commission’s decision to revoke Chen’s license in the wake of his sale of alcohol to minors, Chen painted a dire picture of his store’s finances and threatened to retire early and shut down his store—unless the punishment levied on him was not too severe...
This year is no different. Chen claims his store has lost $150,000 of revenue during this year alone, making retirement a foregone conclusion—unless students will sign a petition and enable him to sell alcohol on Sundays once again. So unless we the students take an active interest in saving Louie’s now, the store may go the way of Budweiser...
...speaks to what may be the real reason for Chen’s decline in sales: checking IDs is bad business. While lost Saturday-for-Sunday sales and the fear of crime both probably play a role, eliminating a huge and loyal part of your customer base—Chen estimates that between 80 and 90 percent of his customers are Harvard students—can never be good...
...Soon, Chen will be 62. He says he has no plans for how to carry on in the event that his store does have to close. But closing the store “would be my last option,” he says. He is determined to do everything in his power to keep Louie’s in business, but, beyond a petition to reclaim his Sunday permit, he won’t say what that entails...
Louie’s has been empty on recent evenings, save for the man behind the counter. Some students are still loyal to Chen. He’s already collected 400 signatures for his petition from customers who hope that being able to sell on Sunday will save his business. He feels the same...