Dear all,
I was one of the directors of ebabyasia¡¦s business, and a minority shareholder in the company. I am also a consultant to All Things Healthy in the Centrium, and have a minority share in the company. I¡¦m posting this note below to provide a candid summary regarding both companies, because I can see there is a lot of resentment regarding ebabyasia¡¦s closure, and some misunderstanding about All Things Healthy.
ebabyasia had eight individual shareholders, including one major Hong Kong financial institution. The company had business in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. When the SARS epidemic began on March 28th, the company¡¦s revenues dropped 80% in all three markets overnight. Our customer base left these markets in droves, and we lost over USD$200,000 in two months. We sought but were not able to receive any reductions in our warehouse, store rentals, or website maintenance fees. This financial impact on a small company was devastating, and the board saw no option but to close down the company and go into voluntary liquidation. This was not an easy decision to make, but there simply was no choice. We had no revenue, no customers, and large, fixed payroll and rental expenses which we could not meet. Appointing a liquidator was the only proper thing to do in an instance like this. The liquidator took control of the assets, is organizing all the creditors, and making sure that everyone is treated fairly and without preference. The company sold all of its stock at 50% off over a one month closing sale, and the remaining stock was auctioned. To my knowledge all merchandise paid for was delivered, and if anyone paid for something that they did not receive, there isn¡¦t a credit card company anywhere in the world that will make you pay that charge ¡V just advise them you never received the goods.
I did not control either the voting shares, or the board of directors, of ebabyasia. Even if I had had any idea regarding an alternative to closing in the face of the SARS impact, I could not have forced the board or other shareholders to follow my lead. In fact, I am one of the largest creditors of the company, and like the other creditors, must accept that this money owing to me is unlikely to be recovered. I also spent eight years with the company, and it was not easy to see it close down, especially as a result of such a freak occurrence as the SARS epidemic.
All Things Healthy is not related in any way to ebabyasia. The company was the brainchild of two expatriate women who are long-term residents of Hong Kong, and who have a passionate interest in personal health. They completely funded the development of the store, and own the majority of the company¡¦s shares. I began consulting with them over a year ago on how to establish a retail business, and continue to assist them now. Neither they, their families nor friends, have ever been affiliated in any way with ebabyasia¡¦s business ¡V directly or indirectly ¡V nothing. Over 95% of the company¡¦s products are food or vitamin related. Some health-oriented baby product brands are sold that were also sold at ebabyasia, but All Things Healthy is not the importer or agent of these products ¡V just a consignment retail channel. A former sales person from ebabyasia is also employed at All Things Healthy because she was an experienced and quality staff who became available when the company closed.
I realize that ebabyasia¡¦s closing down had a very inconvenient impact on a lot of people, but please try to think what you would have done if your entire business disappeared overnight, for reasons that had nothing to do with your company. For those who worked at ebabyasia, we also have families to feed and rent to pay, and have to get on with our lives.
If anyone wishes to contact ebabyasia¡¦s liquidator, please call Baker Tilly at 2826-5000. If you wish to contact me, you can email:
chhonarvar@yahoo.com.
Cameron Honarvar