Following impositions from its landlord, the Panda House restaurant may change its name and ownership as soon as next week.
Landlord Jim Rubens recommended that the restaurant's owners sell their business after restaurant employees faced their third set of credit card fraud allegations in five years.
In the most recent scandal, an unidentified fugitive employee used a "skimming device" to steal a total of more $10,000 from over 20 Panda House customers.
While no deal has been finalized, Rubens suggested that talks with potential purchasers of the restaurant and the Hanover Park mall ownership were well underway.
"A change in ownership will require agreement between the current ownership, the new ownership, and me. We have not reached this point, but the point where we identify the buyer is very close at hand," Rubens said.
Rubens suggested that the new restaurant might serve Chinese and Japanese cuisine like the Panda House, but that it could also be a new type of restaurant. Furthermore, Rubens expressed his hope that the new restaurant will have very little affiliation with the old restaurant, including in regard to employees.
"It won't [have any affiliation] if we have anything to do with it," Rubens said with a laugh.
Meanwhile at the Panda House restaurant, things are business as usual for some employees, who dismissed the upcoming change as insignificant.
"The ownership will change, but it will be the same restaurant, same waiters, same cooks," Panda House waiter Tom Li said.
According to Li, the staff has never acknowledged the serious possibility of a major overhaul. Li admitted, however, that he and the rest of the staff did not know entirely what to expect because the management had not informed them of many details.
The current owner of Panda House, Vincent Wu, was unavailable for comment. Wu lives in Massachusetts and owns several restaurants.
Although Wu consistently paid rent for the restaurant on time, Wu and Rubens agreed to pursue a change in ownership because the successive scandals had marred the business's reputation. All parties expressed hope that the new restaurant would not face any similar scandals.
"Under new management, I am sure that the new restaurant will be a fine restaurant, and it will be an honor to the town and a pleasure for students and parents and visitors to the area to dine in," Rubens said.
Li agreed that the new management should be able to avoid any additional credit card fraud allegations.
"The landlord will talk to the new owners and tell them what they should and should not do, so I think [Credit card fraud] won't happen again," Li said.
