Ritan Park Jenny Lou's, Comptoirs de France Next on List of PLA-Induced Closures

The Ritan Park locations of Jenny Lou's and Comptoirs de France have become the latest victims in a crackdown on PLA involvement in private business that has also netted The Den and Tim's Texas Bar-B-Que.

The two venues closed their doors suddenly and both have hung signs in their respective windows.

Comptoirs, which shut their doors on December 15, posted an announcement that reads, "Due to government regulation the military police will no longer provide this location to our shop."

Jenny Lou's, which shut December 16, was a little more vague with a sign placed in its window: "Because of public security checking by the landlord, we have to close the store for several days," but did not mention when they would reopen and directed shoppers to their Central Park store.

The shops are among a strip of businesses located directly east of Ritan Park and south of the Fangcaodi school. Behind the shopfronts are barracks run by the People's Armed Police.

In addition to Jenny's and Comptoirs, closed venues on the strip include a liquor store called Sell Drunk Supermarket, the Foxhole bar, and a drugstore.

However, some shops remained open, including the Rongbao Hotel, a Russian restaurant, a Xinjiang restaurant and a noodle shop. The hotel said they have not been informed of anything regarding a closure, and one of the restaurants that remained open told the Beijinger that they would not need to close because their boss was "connected."

The closures are all related to a directive approved in April by Xi Jinping to clean up the military's involvement in commercial affairs. One of the largest targets in the campaign is commercial services offered by military hospitals; however, it's very common in Beijing for the military to rent land it controls to private enterprises. A previous crackdown years ago saw the People's Liberation Army disposing of military-owned assets, including Beijing's Kunlun Hotel.

Photo: Toni Ma