Recently, rumors of closing stores, arrears of wages, and the founder's runaway, are becoming increasingly serious. Its founder Wu Bin posted a message on his Moments to respond to the issues related to the sudden closing of the Red Mansion, and made it clear in the comment area that he would repay the owed money.
Why did the Red Mansion, which was once called "the ceiling of Nanjing Chinese Restaurants" by netizens fall from the altar overnight?
Public information shows that Honggongguan was founded in 2009 and focuses on Huaiyang cuisine. It once became Nanjing's catering business card with the store environment of the mansion atmosphere of the Republic of China and the well-received dishes. In addition, the Zijinshan Courtyard, a subsidiary of Honggong, has won the honor of "Black Pearl Restaurant" three times. In April this year, the Zijinshan Courtyard was also selected as the Michelin Guide of Jiangsu Province. At its peak, Honggongguan once opened 15 stores, and its catering group even held the operating rights of the entire Wangshan Street.
△Picture source: Honggongguan official service number
On the social platform, many netizens posted that in fact, since August 29, all six stores including Honggongguan Palace Store, Laomendong Store, and Hexi Jinao Store have been closed one after another. Hong Restaurant Network also visited on September 11 and found that almost all related stores such as Mansion Coffee, Yingyuan, Huaiyang Cuisine and other stores in the Wangshan Street area of Hong Gongguan are in a state of business suspension.
According to the information of social platforms, the process of closing the store of Honggongguan is chaotic and hasty.
△Picture source: Screenshot of Xiaohongshu
In addition, since August this year, many employees who claim to be Red Mansion have posted on platforms such as Xiaohongshu, saying that they have not received their salary for several months. According to one of the employees involved in rights protection, although they complained to the Social Security Bureau and the Tax Bureau and submitted labor arbitration-related information, they eventually fell into a deadlock due to "unable to contact the legal person" or the interview was ineffective, resulting in a deadlock in rights protection.
The closure of Honggongguan has also affected many consumers. On social platforms, many consumers have revealed the unused stored value cards of the Red Mansion, ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan, and some even have posted the stored value amount of up to 760,000 yuan. According to a recharged netizen, when the store was about to be closed, it said that it could not be refunded. With the complete closing of the Red Mansion, their refund requests may be more difficult to advance.
△Picture source: Screenshot of Xiaohongshu
As a number of negative news continue to ferment, on September 9, the official account of Zijinshan Academy issued a statement saying: "From September 10, employees will organize self-operation and self-rescue and start trying to open their business." Many netizens posted after consultation and said that the previous stored value card could be used to deduct 30% of consumption.
In fact, the collapse of the Red Mansion was not without warning.
Qichacha information shows that since 2024, related companies of Honggongguan have been involved in many contract disputes with suppliers, landlords, and decoration companies. For example, in November last year and August this year, Honggongguan's affiliated companies had sales contract disputes with two local food companies respectively; in November last year, it also faced a decoration contract dispute with the decoration company; in January this year, Honggongguan also had a house rental contract dispute with Nanjing Taipingli Historical and Cultural Protection Development Co., Ltd. According to the latest information of Qichacha, the founder Wu Bin became the person subject to execution and needed to pay 5.8993 million yuan to Nanjing Taipingli Historical and Cultural Protection Development Co., Ltd.
△Picture source: Qichacha screenshot
In addition to being in a contract dispute with suppliers and landlords, Honggongguan's abnormal actions before closing the store were also questioned by many netizens as a precursor to "the boss wants to make money and run away."
According to Xinsu Shang, in June this year, Honggongguan increased the discount on reserve value, announcing "recharge 5,000 for 5,000 for 10,000 for 10,000 for 10,000 for 10,000 for 10,000 for 10,000 for 10,000 for 10,000 for 10,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2,000 for 2018. At that time, there were many consumers who reported that Honggongguan had almost never launched such a large discount before.
△Picture source: Screenshot of Xiaohongshu
Why did the Honggongguan, which had been in a long time, take a sharp turn for the worse in its business?
According to its founder Wu Bin in his circle of friends, the current dilemma of Honggongguan is mainly caused by four major problems.
First, a large amount of investment in two major cultural and tourism projects, Wangshan Street and Xinggong failed, resulting in huge losses;
The second is long-term debt operation and default on employees' wages;
Third is that there are loopholes in internal management and there is a problem of position encroachment;
Fourth, another founder, Guo Tengge, fell into an arbitrage loan trap in order to save the company.
According to Hongju Net, the Hongju Palace Store mentioned by Wu Bin is a new store opened by Hongju in 2024. The decoration of the store follows the usual high-end luxury style of Honggong Mansion, and the overall investment is considerable. However, since the store opened, market feedback has not met expectations. On social platforms, many consumers posted that even on weekends, the traffic of the palace shop is not very large.
After opening a palace store, Honggongguan Group also spent 30 million to build the Wangshan Street project. It is understood that the Wangshan Street project is based on shops such as "Manchu Cafe", "Gezi Bookstore", and "Yingyuan". The entire street is centered on "Tang and Song style architecture" and can be called "a replica of the elements of the Red Mansion with high investment". However, according to local netizens, although Wangshan Street has a good flow of people, there are not many people who really stop to drink coffee and eat.
Manchu coffee that has been closed, △Picture source: Hongji.com Photographed
In the view of industry insiders, Honggongguan has no experience in operating block cultural and tourism projects, and has rashly crossed over the border with the confidence of "good restaurants", which eventually exacerbated the brand crisis. On the one hand, the business formats of the block are scattered, and the high decoration and operation costs are superimposed, which directly crushes cash flow; on the other hand, the current high-end catering market is already in a shrinking state, and Honggongguan still invests funds in the unfamiliar cultural and tourism field, further amplifying operating risks.
From the "Nanjing Chinese Restaurant Ceiling" to the fact that stores are almost closed and are burdened with debt, the rise and fall of Honggong Mansion is a pity. At present, although Zijinshan Institute has launched the "employee self-rescue" model, it is still unknown whether it can regain consumer trust and alleviate business difficulties. Founder Wu Bin's promise to "repay repayment" remains to be tested by time.
However, from the sad exit of Honggongguan, it is not difficult to see that the "cold winter" of the high-end catering industry is still continuing. As consumers become more rational and focus on cost-effectiveness, the traditional model of "heavy assets + high premium" for high-end catering is ineffective, and how to reconstruct value and actively adapt to the market has become a must-answer question in front of every high-end catering brand.
Author: Zheng Ying, Hongju.com; Editor: Li Tang
![[Heroic Land Red Xinchuan] Three provinces and four counties are linked! The boutique red tourism route in Hubei, Henan and Shaanxi is launched, and Lu invites you to retake the passionate Long March](https://img.todayinfo.info/images/20250911/68c2ad2605abd.jpg)
