Latest news with #Keung
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Business is tough,' California fast-food franchise owner says
Question: When you get applicants for openings, have you found that they are more experienced or more mature? Are you getting a different caliber of candidates? Keung: Yeah. But my retention has been great. The employees still continue to have great benefits, and the wages help supplement that. Prior to April, I had an 85% turnover rate, and it's been cut in half, down to about 40% turnover for the last year. So, the employees we have are staying. I want to continue to invest in our employees, but it's been very challenging to bring on new people. When we do have hours available, I want to invest in the people we already have. That's part of the reason why our hiring has taken such a big turn compared to the previous year. The biggest impact has been on our workforce. Since April, I've cut my hours in our restaurants by 16%, and my roster size has gone down. Twelve months prior to April, I had around 413 employees for seven restaurants. Now, I'm down to 384 the past year. That's around a 10% cut in the number of employees across the entire organization. Thankfully, I haven't had to do any layoffs, and that's one of the first things we wanted to make clear to our employees is that we're not going to have a mass layoff to compensate for the 25% wage increase. But to be fair, our hiring has gone down. Prior to April last year, we had hired 317 people. Since April of last year, I've hired 140, so my hiring is down by over 50% compared to the previous year. Keung: It's definitely had a huge impact on our operations. Of course, the last thing we wanted to do was increase prices. To be honest, we had to take some measures prior to April (2024), but since then, I've been very hesitant to take those actions. KTLA recently spoke with Mike Keung, whose family owns seven McDonald's restaurants in Los Angeles County (one in the city of L.A., four in Palmdale, and two in Lancaster), to learn how AB 1228 has impacted his business and staffing. Below is a transcript of the conversation. By all measurements, the large franchises, including McDonald's, Subway, Chipotle and Burger King, have raised menu prices to protect their bottom line. At the same time, competing data points have obscured the impact on employment. It's been over a year since California raised the minimum wage for fast-food employees from $16 to $20 per hour, the highest of any state in the nation. Story Continues Keung: That's definitely something we were interested in seeing. We used to have around 35 applicants per day across the entire organization. That's jumped up to around 50 applicants per day, so we've seen a 40% increase in applications compared to the previous year. We have a large variety of people coming in now with different backgrounds. More recently, we've been hiring teachers who are looking for second jobs. We've also hired people from the packaging industry, like FedEx and UPS, looking for second jobs on the weekends or after school. These types of employees are a huge benefit to our organization because they bring maturity. We love working with teachers. We sponsor teacher events every May and almost quarterly, we host classes with schools and fundraise for those classes. With teachers in the restaurant, they show the same type of work ethic and mentality, and they serve as great role models for our younger employees. How fast food prices in California have changed since the minimum wage hike Question: How's business? Keung: Business is tough. Looking at our gross sales and customer visits compared to last year, as an organization, I'm down around 16%. Customers are not coming in. I think with April (2024), a lot of the media showed that we needed to prepare for potential price increases. Although we did not increase prices as much as many of our partners, we're still seeing the effects on customers. A lot of people don't want to come into the restaurant, which is fair considering the feedback we're seeing. The decline in business has sustained since last year. Anecdotally, when I talk to customers and drivers, it seems like a lot of people just aren't going out. They don't want to leave their homes, and we're definitely seeing that in the restaurants. Question: Have any of the new value meal promotions worked? Keung: I think they have been effective. It's not just McDonald's; you see everyone trying to offer some type of fixed dollar meal. It definitely brings in additional customers. However, profitability-wise, it's not fair. We're trying to bring in customers and sustain their purchases, but it doesn't do enough to balance the changes that came with AB 1228. Question: Do you think lowering prices could move the needle for you as a volume play? Keung: That's pretty much what these value menu items and deals have done. With the $5 meal deal at McDonald's, our average check has dropped around 10% compared to last year. When we don't have as many customers coming in and our average check drops, it impacts our top line. It's definitely been a challenge. McDonald's is trying to bring in new items this year, and there's a lot of excitement coming in the next two weeks that I can't talk about yet. We're trying to offer more products that hopefully more customers can enjoy. Question: Anything else you'd like to share? Keung: Another significant impact of AB 1228 is our ability to continue supporting the local community. In the past, we always held fundraiser events for local cops, sheriffs, and teachers. But one of the biggest challenges this year has been supporting more local charities and fundraisers in terms of monetary donations. That's something we've had to step back from because, at this point, I'm pulling from my own savings to fund payroll and other company expenses. I'm no longer able to support additional fundraisers and charities monetarily as much as we did before. We've also had to reduce some of our employee benefits and restaurant perks. Every year, whenever we have visits from the health department or a company event and receive a good score, we would always reward the restaurants with funds to host their own parties, events, and buy gifts for everyone. But we've had to cut back on some of these incentives because we just don't have the funds to be able to support those types of projects anymore. I also want to talk about what McDonald's franchises do and what they are. There's a misconception that McDonald's in Southern California is a large corporation. But what people don't see is that these are family businesses. There are 635 franchise restaurants in Southern California, operated by 90 individual owner-operated organizations that are all family-owned and operated for generations. My family has been here since we started our first restaurant in 2004, but there are multi-generational families in Southern California that invest in local communities and are great partners. With the changes last year, it's just more challenging to support the community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
California McDonald's owner discusses impact of minimum wage increase
It's been over a year since California raised the minimum wage for fast-food employees from $16 to $20 per hour, the highest of any state in the nation. By all measurements, the large franchises, including McDonald's, Subway, Chipotle and Burger King, have raised menu prices to protect their bottom line. At the same time, competing data points have obscured the impact on employment. Trade groups say the law, Assembly Bill 1228, has led to widespread job losses. California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office insists it has not. KTLA recently spoke with Mike Keung, whose family owns seven McDonald's restaurants in Los Angeles County, one in the city of L.A., four in Palmdale and two in Lancaster, to learn how AB 1228 has impacted his business and staffing. Below is a transcript of the conversation. Question: Mike, as a McDonald's franchise owner, what has changed since AB 1228 was signed into law? Keung: It's definitely had a huge impact on our operations. Of course, the last thing we wanted to do was increase prices. To be honest, we had to take some measures prior to April (2024), but since then, I've been very hesitant to take those actions. The biggest impact has been on our workforce. Since April, I've cut my hours in our restaurants by 16%, and my roster size has gone down. Twelve months prior to April, I had around 413 employees for seven restaurants. Now, I'm down to 384 the past year. That's around a 10% cut in the number of employees across the entire organization. Thankfully, I haven't had to do any layoffs, and that's one of the first things we wanted to make clear to our employees is that we're not going to have a mass layoff to compensate for the 25% wage increase. But to be fair, our hiring has gone down. Prior to April last year, we had hired 317 people. Since April of last year, I've hired 140, so my hiring is down by over 50% compared to the previous year. Question: So, these cuts have been through attrition? Keung: Yeah. But my retention has been great. The employees still continue to have great benefits, and the wages help supplement that. Prior to April, I had an 85% turnover rate, and it's been cut in half, down to about 40% turnover for the last year. So, the employees we have are staying. I want to continue to invest in our employees, but it's been very challenging to bring on new people. When we do have hours available, I want to invest in the people we already have. That's part of the reason why our hiring has taken such a big turn compared to the previous year. Question: When you get applicants for openings, have you found that they are more experienced or more mature? Are you getting a different caliber of candidates? Keung: That's definitely something we were interested in seeing. We used to have around 35 applicants per day across the entire organization. That's jumped up to around 50 applicants per day, so we've seen a 40% increase in applications compared to the previous year. We have a large variety of people coming in now with different backgrounds. More recently, we've been hiring teachers who are looking for second jobs. We've also hired people from the packaging industry, like FedEx and UPS, looking for second jobs on the weekends or after school. These types of employees are a huge benefit to our organization because they bring maturity. We love working with teachers. We sponsor teacher events every May and almost quarterly, we host classes with schools and fundraise for those classes. With teachers in the restaurant, they show the same type of work ethic and mentality, and they serve as great role models for our younger employees. Question: How's business? Keung: Business is tough. Looking at our gross sales and customer visits compared to last year, as an organization, I'm down around 16%. Customers are not coming in. I think with April (2024), a lot of the media showed that we needed to prepare for potential price increases. Although we did not increase prices as much as many of our partners, we're still seeing the effects on customers. A lot of people don't want to come into the restaurant, which is fair considering the feedback we're seeing. The decline in business has sustained since last year. Anecdotally, when I talk to customers and drivers, it seems like a lot of people just aren't going out. They don't want to leave their homes, and we're definitely seeing that in the restaurants. Question: Have any of the new value meal promotions worked? Keung: I think they have been effective. It's not just McDonald's; you see everyone trying to offer some type of fixed dollar meal. It definitely brings in additional customers. However, profitability-wise, it's not fair. We're trying to bring in customers and sustain their purchases, but it doesn't do enough to balance the changes that came with AB 1228. Question: Do you think lowering prices could move the needle for you as a volume play? Keung: That's pretty much what these value menu items and deals have done. With the $5 meal deal at McDonald's, our average check has dropped around 10% compared to last year. When we don't have as many customers coming in and our average check drops, it impacts our top line. It's definitely been a challenge. McDonald's is trying to bring in new items this year, and there's a lot of excitement coming in the next two weeks that I can't talk about yet. We're trying to offer more products that hopefully more customers can enjoy. Question: Anything else you'd like to share? Keung: Another significant impact of AB 1228 is our ability to continue supporting the local community. In the past, we always held fundraiser events for local cops, sheriffs, and teachers. But one of the biggest challenges this year has been supporting more local charities and fundraisers in terms of monetary donations. That's something we've had to step back from. I also want to talk about what McDonald's franchises do and what they are. There's a misconception that McDonald's in Southern California is a large corporation. But what people don't see is that these are family businesses. There are 635 franchise restaurants in Southern California, operated by 90 individual owner-operated organizations that are all family-owned and operated for generations. My family has been here since we started our first restaurant in 2004, but there are multi-generational families in Southern California that invest in local communities and are great partners. With the changes last year, it's just more challenging to support the community. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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South China Morning Post
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Fans flock to ‘Keung To Bay' to celebrate Cantopop star's birthday in Hong Kong
Overseas fans of Hong Kong's Cantopop star Keung To joined thousands of local counterparts to celebrate the singer's 26th birthday, with some travelling from Canada and the United States to mark the occasion. Advertisement Three birthday-themed parade trams on Wednesday carried fans non-stop from Whitty Street in Sai Wan to Causeway Bay, which was once again filled with Keung's supporters holding up banners and exchanging merchandise, turning one of the city's busiest shopping districts into 'Keung To Bay.' This year also marked the fourth time that the local celebrity's fan club sponsored free tram rides for all Hong Kong residents on his birthday. After the parade, many fans stayed to take photos with various installations featuring birthday wishes and Keung's photos in the area, including some who had travelled from North America and Europe for the special occasion. Thousands of fans line the streets of Causeway Bay to celebrate Keung To's 26th birthday. Photo: Dickson Lee Among them was Kyoko Leung, who led a group of 35 people from the Keung To Canada Fan Club.
South China Morning Post
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Fine dining, jazz and Lego art: Sandy Keung's unconventional approach to cuisine
Chef Sandy Keung isn't one for estimations. When I ask her to visualise her future in five to 10 years, she swiftly interjects. Advertisement 'Six years,' she says. 'That's when the lease is up.' The lease in question is for a swanky space on the 23rd floor of the gallery-filled H Queen's building in the heart of Central, where she has just relocated her 11-year-old restaurant, Table, from its previous home in Sheung Wan. Just like her dishes, Keung is hard to define. Coming into food from finance means her approach is often unconventional, and her love of music resulted in her hosting theme nights where each dish is accompanied by a piece of music. Sandy Keung at work in the kitchen of her restaurant Table in Central. Photo: courtesy Table by Sandy Keung Though Keung is known for her seafood dishes, along with her depuration technique (where seafood is placed in clean water to allow purging of impurities), she also serves lesser-known fare such as lamb heart and brain. 'People call us and ask, 'What kind of food do you serve?'' she says, laughing. 'Some say it feels very French because of my sauces. I've also got 'modern Chinese' before, which really surprised me. I'm not sure.'
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alibaba Cloud's Growth Accelerates With AI, Analyst Weighs DeepSeek's Rising Competition
Goldman Sachs analyst Ronald Keung maintained a Buy on Alibaba Group Holdings (NYSE:BABA) with a price target of $117. Keung noted Alibaba's Qwen2.5 family continues to gain traction in Huggingface's latest Open LLM Leaderboard. The analyst noted that Alibaba's recent share price outperformance versus the sector (since its Qwen2.5 model launches) has been potentially due to the leading benchmark performances of its latest Qwen2.5-Max. Apple's AI Split: Chooses Alibaba For China And OpenAI For Everyone Else Investor focus is likely on the value of Alibaba Cloud as China's largest cloud hyperscaler, where he valued Alibaba Cloud at 3 times revenue versus Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) Amazon Web Services at 7 times revenue. The analyst expects a sequentially stronger core domestic eCommerce performance, which the appliance trade-in program will help, a software service fee boost, and continued acceleration in cloud revenue growth. With Alibaba's upcoming December quarter results, Keung forecasted group revenue growth of 7% and Alibaba Cloud revenue growth, which he expects to accelerate to 10% for the December 2024 quarter and 12% for the March 2025 quarter (from 7% in the September 2024 quarter). The analyst expects an acceleration of cloud revenue growth across China cloud service providers (CSPs) in 2025E on increased revenue contribution from the margin-accretive generative AI-driven business. Keung noted the continued progress of open-source models at competitive performance and costs versus closed-source, with the increasing availability of open-source models supported by global cloud service providers. He noted increasingly agile Chinese models and significant improvement in computing cost efficiencies could drive further room for broader adoption, exploration, the proliferation of AI applications, and potential for global expansion for Chinese players, assuming Chinese companies can continue to tap computing power and chips. However, Keung flagged a rise in competition between capital-rich internet giants versus affordable start-ups like Deep Seek in the model layer, given lowering barriers to entry, an ongoing shift from training to more inferencing, and ongoing geopolitical uncertainties. Yet Keung remained positive on long-term AI computing demand growth as further lowering of training and inference costs could drive higher AI adoption. Price Action: BABA stock is up 1.99% at $113.53 at the last check on Tuesday. Also Read:Photo courtesy: Shutterstock Date Firm Action From To Feb 2022 Barclays Maintains Overweight Feb 2022 Stifel Maintains Buy Feb 2022 Citigroup Maintains Buy View More Analyst Ratings for BABA View the Latest Analyst Ratings UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? ALIBABA GR HLDGS (BABA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Alibaba Cloud's Growth Accelerates With AI, Analyst Weighs DeepSeek's Rising Competition originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
