Don’t let that bowl of "Dazhong Zongpi" become a memory

Author:?Source:?Daily Gansu Net-Lanzhou Morning News?2012-04-13?05:48

Don’t let that bowl of “Popular Rice Noodles” become a memory

Has it been half a year since shareholders’ disputes caused it to close down? Citizens are worried that this snack bar that has been around for half a century may fade away from being a “time-honored brand” ”

The once-splendid Dazhong snack bar is now closed

The “Dazhong Gaodan Stuffed Pi”, which is well-known among Lanzhou citizens, has been shut down due to a dispute between shareholders. The dispute has reached a stalemate and the business has been closed for half a year. The long-standing dispute may cause this snack that has existed in Lanzhou for half a century to fade away from one of the few "time-honored" companies. People can't help but ask, what happened to this old store?

"Where has the Dazhong Snack Bar moved?"

"I have to answer the same questions from several people every day, how do I know?" When asked why the Dazhong Snack Bar closed down, the merchants next to it were a little bit replied impatiently. He told reporters that since the Dazhong snack bar closed in September 2011, several surrounding merchants have answered the same inquiries from customers almost every day.

On March 19, the reporter came to the Dazhong Snack Bar located at the entrance of the God's Temple on the Zhangye Road Pedestrian Street. Looking through the locked glass window of the snack bar, the plaque on the wall that read "Cai Yuan Guang Jin" was Covered by dust, there are still chopstick holders filled with sanitary chopsticks on the dusty indoor table, and several basins scattered on the floor, silently describing the loneliness of being in an empty house.

As for the reason for closing, the person in charge of another merchant said: It is said that it was due to disagreements among shareholders that made the business unsustainable: "Lanzhou's famous snack public is one of the best, so what's the contradiction? Let’s discuss it together, we can’t let such a good brand disappear.”

Not only that, but questions like “Where is the popular snack bar moved?” can be seen everywhere on the Internet. Some netizens left a message: I recently walked through Zhangye Road and found that the door of Volkswagen Zongpi was closed. I couldn’t explain how I felt. This store has been open since my parents were young, at least 40 or 50 years ago. I don’t know why. Closed? Like an old acquaintance gone forever. I’m so reluctant to give up! I hope that time-honored brands will always be time-honored!

Dispute among 23 shareholders

It is understood that Lanzhou Dazhong Snacks Department is a joint-stock cooperative enterprise established in 1998 after the restructuring of the Dazhong Snacks Department of Zhangye Road Restaurant, a Lanzhou catering service company. It was established with the approval of Lanzhou Municipal Second Commercial Bureau, Lanzhou Municipal Finance Bureau and other units. The total share capital was 320,000 yuan, which was quantified in the name of each employee in the name of qualification shares and seniority shares. 23 employees became shareholders of the company after the restructuring.

The dispute began at the Fifth General Meeting of Shareholders of Dazhong Snacks on May 14, 2011. It was caused by some shareholders’ dissatisfaction with the current executive director during his term of office. At this meeting, 12 shareholders The executive directors and supervisors were elected through voting, which then created a situation of opposition between the two parties among shareholders.

According to insiders, some of the shareholders pointed the finger at the four-point behavior of the executive director, believing that he had never chaired a shareholders' meeting during his seven years in office, causing some shareholders to express disapproval of the snack department in recent years. He knew nothing about future business plans, investment plans and profits, and did not enjoy due profit dividends; the registered trademark "Dazhong Gaodan" that should belong to the company belongs to the executive director's personal name; without the consent of the shareholders' meeting , privately arranged for relatives to work in the snack bar; without completing any formalities, he took the qualified shares of the 11 shareholders reflected in the books as his own.

Other shareholders believe that this extraordinary general meeting of shareholders was convened by the supervisors without notifying all shareholders in advance, and that some shareholders who participated in the extraordinary general meeting showed untruthful expressions of intention. They believe that the shareholders' meeting resulted in The election resolution was invalid and was taken to legal channels. Later, the election resolution was revoked through civil judgments at the Chengguan District Court and the Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court.

In fact, the dispute between the two parties did not cease due to the court's decision. On the contrary, it became more and more stalemate, causing the operation to come to a complete standstill. It is understood that since the fifth general meeting of shareholders elected new executive directors and supervisors, the new executive directors and supervisors have taken over the daily management of Lanzhou Dazhong Snack Department and continued normal operations.

It was not until September 14, 2011 that the Lanzhou Intermediate People's Court made a final judgment, ruling to revoke the election resolution of the fifth general meeting of shareholders and upholding the original judgment. According to this judgment, the executive director of the snack bar locked the door of the snack bar on September 22 on the grounds that the lease of the store had expired. At this point, Lanzhou Dazhong Snack Bar closed.

The Articles of Association have not been revised in 14 years

Faced with the problems that occurred in the Dazhong Snack Department, Huang Xiuping, the supervisor of the snack department who advocated the removal of the executive director in this dispute, attributed the cause to the company over the years. Such reasons include imperfect systems, lack of supervision mechanisms, and shareholders’ weak awareness of safeguarding their own rights and interests. "Most of the 23 shareholders only have a junior high school education and are not very clear about modern corporate management and the rights and obligations of shareholders, which directly leads to the excessive power of the executive director. In the past seven years, at least I, as a shareholder, have not received the dividends I deserve. "So, in May 2011, I convened shareholders for a general election." Huang Xiuping pointed out that the reason why she proposed to re-elect executive directors was that she was worried that only 6 of the company's 23 shareholders, including executive directors, were currently in office, and most of them were in office. He will retire in the past five years. If there is no general election to revise the company's management charter, as all current employees retire, the company will become privately owned. The executive director has successively arranged for two relatives to join the company and put the registered trademark in his name.

There is no clear evidence to confirm Huang Xiuping’s statement, but it can be seen from the “Articles of Association of Lanzhou Dazhong Snack Department” provided by her that this Articles of Association, established in 1998, has been in operation for 14 years. It has never been revised during the process, and Huang Xiuping herself admitted that the contents of the charter were copied from the charters of other state-owned enterprises in Lanzhou at that time and were not applicable to the development of snack bars. As for why the company was still named "Snack Department" at the beginning of its establishment, Huang Xiuping said it was because the registered capital at the beginning of the restructuring did not meet the requirements for establishing a joint-stock company, and no one proposed it in the following years.

“After the court ruled to revoke the resolution of the fifth shareholders’ meeting, we published a statement in the newspaper at the end of February 2012 to convene a shareholders’ meeting. We hope that the 23 shareholders can sit down calmly to resolve the problem and open the door as soon as possible. But in the end, 11 shareholders were still absent.” At the end of the interview, Huang Xiuping said that in addition to resolving the dispute through legal channels, she hoped that an objective and impartial third party would intervene in the mediation, otherwise the problem would be difficult to resolve, and it would be far-fetched to know when the business would open. .

After that, the reporter contacted the former executive director of the snack department by phone, but he refused several times because he was on a business trip.

As for the dispute over the popular snack department, Huang Xiuping pinned her hopes on the government departments for resolution. Subsequently, the reporter interviewed the provincial and municipal commerce departments. The relevant person in charge of the Lanzhou City Commerce Department stated that the Dazhong Snack Department has become an independently operated joint-stock enterprise that is responsible for its own profits and losses since its restructuring in 1998. As a government department, it has no right to interfere with its daily operations. The relevant person in charge of the Catering Service Department of the Provincial Department of Commerce acknowledged this statement and said that he was aware of the dispute at the Popular Snack Department. However, since the incident is still in the legal litigation stage, it is difficult to intervene. However, if the dispute between the two parties causes this time-honored enterprise to Close the door and the commerce department will investigate.

The former glory of "Dazhong Gaodan"

The problems that occurred in the Dazhong snack department made Nan Xueliang, one of the shareholders of the snack department, a veteran employee: "This store has always been It is an advanced unit among the catering service companies in Lanzhou. Any conflicts between shareholders can be resolved through litigation. Don’t let the brand that was created with great difficulty disappear just like this.”

Nan Xueliang, 65 years old this year. I recall the booming business of the snack bar back then. He told reporters that Dazhong Snacks, which started in the 1950s, has always been a famous snack store in Lanzhou City. In particular, a plate of high-dan stuffed skin with a meat pie is the store's signature. "When I started working in 1965, the popular snack bar was located to the west of the current Jincheng Theater. At that time, that area was still called Beijing Shopping Mall. The snack bar was a door panel room, and the tables and stools were all made of wood." Nan Xueliang still remembers that the snack bar Opposite the department are Wang Rongkang suit store, Lanzhou photo studio, Lanzhou shoe and hat store, and Lida Western restaurant, which are also prosperous.

“Before the official opening at 9:30 in the morning, people were already queuing up with rice bowls and lunch boxes. Before the spicy food was finished, the queue was already long. After the ticket was stopped at 5:30 in the afternoon, all the people were waiting in line. It still takes half an hour to grab plates of stuffed skin for customers who have tickets." Although he has been retired for five years, Nan Xueliang remembers that his female colleagues would carry four or five plates of stuffed skin seasoning on their left arms when they were busy.

"'Night spots' became popular in the early 1980s. At that time, all state-owned catering companies were required to participate in the night market and set up a stall in front of the door, selling twists and sugar oil cakes from 7pm to 10pm," another said. Employee Gao Lanying said that the meat pies sold in the snack bar are still made using techniques learned from Xi'an, and the current large-bread-sized pies are also improved from the original large-plate pies.

“Although there are many stores in Lanzhou selling various types of stuffed skin, Dazhong Snack Shop has always inherited the old rules and practices of making stuffed skin, especially Gaodan stuffed skin with one pound of flour and one and a half pounds of water. It is a strict rule to make five plates of stuffed skin. The seasoning is also a sesame paste compound flavor made from four seasonings: sesame paste, red pepper, salt, and vinegar. The seasoning is required to be thick and there should be no leftover seasoning on the plate after the customer has finished eating. It must be all stuck on the stuffed skin. Even now, many old clerks can recognize it at a glance when walking on the streets of Lanzhou. "Nan Xueliang recalled that snack bars began to sell high-load stuffed skin in the late 1970s. The price of a plate is two taels of food stamps and nine cents, while the price of stuffed skin before closing is 3.5 yuan per plate.