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The owners of struggling gyms, beauty salons, and tuition centers are hiring professional “store closers” to help them suddenly disappear without a trace — and take their customers’ money with them. By Li Xin and Li Miaoran When Tang Xiaoxin signed up her daughter for painting classes in June, it seemed like a good deal. The training center was based inside a busy mall near her home in Shanghai, and seemed to be popular. Even better, it offered special discounts to parents who prepaid for a course of lessons. Tang handed over 10,000 yuan ($1,500) without a second thought. A month later, the business vanished. Dozens of parents and children arrived for class one morning to find the center empty. Its owner could not be contacted. The company that owned the training center franchise refused to help, saying it was not responsible for the actions of its franchisees. Tang never got her money back. “There was no sign it was going to shut down at all,” she told Sixth Tone. “Th
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