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Everyone Closing Shop in Singapore?

johnny333

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I recalled something like, that was an Apple product that was R&D at Apple here & sold worldwide..forgot what it was...not the Newton ? or was it the early iPod? or a CD Player..something like that.


They did the voice recognition work here. Also had people working on the monitors.
 

johnny333

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So, the "core" of Stinkercoreans rotted away....initially a few Stinkerporeans was seconded to KL..Thailand, Brunei etc....but that rotted away & was replaced, by cheaper, faster, but not necessarily better.....Indonesians, Ah nehs & Filipinos.....
...

same thing happened at Apple. When they decided to relocate to China some of the Spore staff was sent to China to set things up.

After they had done their job, they were made redundant.
 

halsey02

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They did the voice recognition work here. Also had people working on the monitors.

Ah yes!...the monitors, I thought it was the CD player or some HDD also..so they did "siri" here? & taught the Voice Recognition to say " ho bo"....until one paper cache "general" made it into a bad word...
 

johnny333

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Ah yes!...the monitors, I thought it was the CD player or some HDD also..so they did "siri" here? & taught the Voice Recognition to say " ho bo"....until one paper cache "general" made it into a bad word...

Siri didn't exist back then as there was no iphone yet :smile:
 

shittypore

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Loyal
same thing happened at Apple. When they decided to relocate to China some of the Spore staff was sent to China to set things up.

After they had done their job, they were made redundant.

Sin Inc no diff, every citizens are like a tissue paper as Chee said, after they wipe their arse you are discarded.
 

johnny333

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Sin Inc no diff, every citizens are like a tissue paper as Chee said, after they wipe their arse you are discarded.

MNCs only answer to their shareholders.

However Spore Inc. is suppose to answer to the people of Spore, but the reality is that Spore is owned & controlled by Lee & family.
 

halsey02

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Siri didn't exist back then as there was no iphone yet :smile:

Siri is voice recognition...that time back, maybe the start of SIRI..in research state.....back then, it was...something like Dragon something & one more company that was good in voice recognition.......
 

Pinkieslut

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straitstimes.com
Tough times at Far East Plaza
MELISSA LIN

Far East Plaza, once a popular haunt for teenagers, seems to have fallen out of favour.

The Straits Times, which visited the mall several times over the past month, saw more than 10 stores on the first floor with their shutters down and displaying "For Lease" signs.

While the eateries on levels one, four and five were bustling during lunch hour, few customers ventured into the shops.

Tenants said business has slowed by as much as 50 per cent, compared to a decade ago.

"There are simply too many mega malls which have opened in the past five years, and it is the norm to see retail tenants change every two to three years," said the mall's centre manager, Mr Kenneth Lim.

For 33-year-old Far East Plaza, adapting to the competition will not be easy.

For a major revamp to be carried out, the majority of the strata-titled mall's more than 500 individual owners will need to agree to it, which would be challenging, Mr Lim acknowledged.

The last major revamp was in 2005, when it spent $6.53 million to improve its floors, ceilings and external walkways.

Three years earlier, department store Metro vacated its 50,000 sq ft space on the first floor. It was replaced by Level One, a warren of shops selling apparel mainly targeted at teenagers.

Times have changed, said Ms Joanne Teo, 32, who has been working at Level One clothing store Red 2 for the past 13 years.

"When Level One opened, Ion and 313@somerset hadn't opened yet. H&M, which also sells cheap clothes, also hadn't come to Singapore," she said, adding that footfall at Level One has fallen by 50 per cent over the years.

Another of Level One's pioneer clothing stores, Code Red, may move to a suburban mall if business does not improve, said an owner, Madam Joanna Tie, 50.

Clothing shops on the other floors of the five-storey mall are not faring any better.

However, the nail and hair salons still enjoy a steady stream of customers.

Ms Kelly Chong, 36, part-owner of hair salon Queen's Cut on the fifth floor, said her business relies on regulars, who make up 70 per cent of her customers.

Mr Charles Yue, 56, a property agent helping to lease out the mall's units, said there are around 30 vacant units out of some 600 shops.

"They are usually vacant for three to six months," he said. "Each lease is about two years, although cases where tenants want to break their lease before it is up have become more common."

Mr Ong Kah Seng, director of property consultancy R'ST Research, estimates that rents, which are set by individual owners, have fallen by between 10 and 15 per cent over the past two to three years.

The mall could reposition itself as an incubator for budding entrepreneurs, he suggested. Vacant units can be sub-divided into smaller shops and offered rent-free for the first three months to young retailers with innovative products.

"If such an energising, new vibrant concept gets mass appeal and recognised, then it will earn accolades for the mall - as one which offers entry retailers a platform to successfully start their services," he said.

Polytechnic student Yumi Ono, 23, said she used to shop at the mall a few years back, but now buys her clothes online.

"All these clothes can be found on blogshops. Why do I need to travel when I can buy online?" she said.

Still, there are tenants who are willing to stay because of the cheaper rental and flexibility, compared to developer-owned malls.

Madam Lilian Tan, who is in her 60s and helps out at her daughter's clothing store on the third floor, said: "Those malls also dictate what time to open and close (a shop). Here, if we feel like opening, we open. If we don't, we can keep the shop closed."
 

Pinkieslut

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Uncertainty looms over Aeropostale’s future in Singapore


SINGAPORE: The fate of Aeropostale's stores in Singapore remains unclear after the US teen apparel retailer filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday (May 4) and may pull down the shutters on more than 100 stores in the United States.

For the time being, however, it will be business as usual for the four outlets located at Bugis+, Jurong Point, Ngee Ann City and VivoCity, according to Jay Gee Melwani Group, the brand's distributor in Singapore and Malaysia.

"We are not going to shut down immediately tomorrow. As long as we got the goods, the Singapore stores will remain open," managing director of Jay Gee Melwani R Dhinakaran told Channel NewsAsia.

"I'm waiting for (Aeropostale) to give me certain directions on how we can continue ... Once they settle down with their business, I'm sure they will get back to us and we'll take it from there on what to do next," Mr Dhinakaran added.

A staff at Aeropostale’s store in VivoCity also said that employees have been told that operations will continue until further instructions.

"THIS NEWS IS UNEXPECTED": FANS OF THE CHAIN

For some fans of the teen-clothing chain, the news came as a shock.

“I like their T-shirts a lot. They are comfortable and they don’t get out of shape easily,” said Ms Penny Chen, 25, who is a regular of the local outlets since the first opened in 2011. “There were no major discount sales recently and they didn’t seem like they were doing very badly so this (news) is unexpected for me.”

The retailer - whose clothes were once ubiquitous in teen closets and is known as one of the “three A’s” in the teen apparel segment in the US alongside Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters - has been struggling in recent years to get its formula right amid stiff competition from fast fashion brands such as H&M and Forever 21, declining mall traffic and changing consumer preferences.

As sales plunged, Aeropostale, which was started in the early 1980s by RH Macy’s & Co., posted losses in the last three fiscal years. The company said in April that it would delay filing its annual report for the year ended Jan 30, 2016 as it explores strategic options.

Last month, shares of the beleaguered retailer were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after falling 99.6 per cent from an all-time high. Aeropostale made its stock market debut in 2002.

On Wednesday, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following weeks of speculation, joining the recent spate of high-profile retail bankruptcies such as American Apparel and Quiksilver.

According to Bloomberg news, Aeropostale will be closing 113 locations in the US, as well as all its 41 stores in Canada.

FAILURE TO INNOVATE LED TO ITS DEMISE: ANALYST

“The once exclusive strategies of teen fashion players, built on heavy-logoed products and a too-cool-for-school brand image, are no longer resonating with the younger consumer,” Ms Bernadette Kissane, apparel and footwear analyst at Euromonitor, told Channel NewsAsia.

While the rise of fast fashion brands is a key threat, a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour, attitudes and values in the teen market is what brands are finding hard to keep up, according to Ms Kissane.

“Reliance on store footfall has negatively impacted the performance of teen brands as consumer behaviour shifts from spending their weekends socialising at the mall to connecting with friends through social media ... The digital age has also led to changes in teenager expenditure, with more choice in the form of electronics, gadgets and apps,” she said.

The nail in the coffin came in the form of Aeropostale’s reliance on promotions as it left the brand “vulnerable” at a time when its rivals such as American Eagle Outfitters rolled out strategies that put an emphasis on the needs and demands of its consumer group.

“In a similar case to American Apparel, the failure to innovate in terms of product, distribution and marketing has ultimately led to the brand’s demise,” the London-based analyst added.
 

Pinkieslut

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Retail market: The disease and the cure

Here's why it's time to be spooked by the state of the retail market.

1. February retail sales plunged despite leap year, Airshow and more tourists

The Department of Statistics Singapore released the February 2016 Retail Sales Index figures two weeks ago. The data shows that year-on-year, total retail sales value fell 3.2% from an estimated $3.5 billion in February 2015. The decline would have been bigger if not for the sales of motor vehicles, which increased 51% over February last year. On a year-on-year basis, retail sales excluding motor vehicles have been on a declining streak, with occasional blips.

There were 29 calendar days and 19 working days in February 2016. In comparison, there were 28 calendar days and 18 working days in February 2015.

Singapore hosts a major international exhibition once every two years. The Singapore Airshow was held on Feb 16 to 21 this year and according to the show statistics, there were 48,229 trade attendees, out of whom about 30% (about 14,000) were from overseas. The previous Singapore Airshow was held in February 2014.

February 2016 also saw an increase of 11.9% in the number of international visitor arrivals, or about 141,500 persons, over the previous February.

Given the three positive factors — an extra day this February, the Singapore Airshow and the jump in international visitor arrivals — most market watchers expected an increase in retail spending over the same month last year. However, the cash registers in retail sales and F&B services collected $100 million less in February this year.

2. Tourists and locals are not spending

Perhaps in trying to reverse the declining international visitor arrival numbers, the authorities have targeted higher headcount numbers by attracting mass market tourists instead of premium travellers. The Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World at Sentosa integrated resorts reported weaker revenues, lower profits and a drop in contribution from high rollers.

Another reason might be that the year kicked off on a weak note as a result of the turmoil in the oil and financial markets. Weak jobs data and increased layoffs probably led to belt tightening.

3. Online retailers upping their game

While brick-and-mortar retailers are playing catch-up, online retailers continue to reinvent themselves. For example, more online retailers are offering delivery on Sundays. Not too long ago, Alibaba raised its stake in Singapore Post to enhance its logistic solutions and boost overseas revenue. Some online retailers are employing new technologies that allow customers to try on products digitally by entering their vital statistics, while others offer try-before-youbuy schemes.

A recent survey by PayPal and Ipsos, shows that nearly 70% of Singapore online shoppers shopped with both local and overseas retailers. Globally, e-commerce players the likes of Amazon and Alibaba have taken market share from even the biggest international retailers. UK retailer BHS may go bankrupt while Kmart/Sears and Walmart have announced the closure of about 350 stores in the US.

4. Tiny market

The main reason retailers are not performing well is that the local consumer market is tiny. With the presence of e-commerce and Singaporeans travelling regularly overseas to shop, the market will shrink even more.

It is smaller than what we might expect of a population of 5.54 million. About 1.2 million are made up of foreign domestic workers, and S-Pass, student pass and work permit holders, and their purchasing power is limited.

Many of the international retailers entered Singapore in 2011 and 2012, drawn by the growing population and Southeast Asia’s economic boom. Population growth has, however, slowed down to around 1% per year over the past two years.

5. Vicious cycle

As more brands exit the market, Singapore's reputation as shopping destination will be compromised and discourage both maiden and repeat visits among tourists. For locals, the retail scene will become increasingly monotonous, driving them to overseas destinations.

For the whole of 2015, retailers gave up 323,000 sq ft more space than they took up. Strong brands with solid financials in their home markets, such as FrancFranc, Rakuten, Lowry’s Farm and Goods of Desire, closed their Singapore operations in the last two years.

Island-wide, vacant retail space amounted to 4.7 million sq ft as at 1Q2016 - equivalent to five VivoCitys. Another 8.6 million sq ft of retail space are being planned or under construction. As a tiny island, we are not optimising our land resources.

Vacant retail space amounted to 4.7 million sq ft as at 1Q2016 - equivalent to nearly five VivoCitys.




Another 8.6 million sq ft of retail space are being planned or under construction




Rental and labour not entirely to blame

Retail rents and labour costs in Singapore are only a fraction of those in Hong Kong. Rentals in Hong Kong are two to three times the per sq ft price of an equivalent location in Singapore. Hong Kong’s retail and restaurant workers are paid a minimum wage of HK$32.50 per hour, or about $1,276 assuming they work nine hours a day and 25 days a month. But the retail scene in Hong Kong is more vibrant than Singapore’s.

The problems plaguing the local retail scene lie beyond rents and labour costs. Singapore’s retailers need to examine their value propositions and reorganise their business practices around consumers’ preferences. Many retailers simply operate a showroom, selling “me too” products and depend on the shopper traffic that the mall draws to move its goods. Such product pushers with no value-added services will lose out fast.

In comparison, take a look at Apple’s flagship stores. They have an open-concept layout with about 10% of the total floor area used to display the brand’s products. Apple plants the flagship stores in the world’s most expensive real estate locations: Ginza in Tokyo, Regent Street in London, 5th Avenue in New York and Rue de Rivoli in Paris. With only 10% of the space used to display products, the stores are dedicated to servicing customers. Product sale is secondary, as most of its products are sold online and through direct sales channels such as schools and institutions.

Leading retail brands understand this point: When consumers step into your store, they want service, not just products. Products can be purchased online, usually at lower prices.

The flagship stores of Nike and Adidas are service focused. The services include measuring a consumer’s gait to determine which pair of shoes would be most suitable for his style of running. Such a service is difficult to order online, unless the consumer invests in the equipment for the necessary measurements. Cosmetics brands also understand this point well, and the leaders in this category train their frontline sales staff to be beauticians, and not simply order takers.

Retailers need to package their physical store products with excellent service, and provide a good customer experience and after sales service. Good in-store service, attitude of front line staff and returns policy are among the factors that will draw customers back repeatedly.

Focus on experiences, although rents will be compromised

Having said that, rents will naturally be compromised as the retail industry undergoes a massive restructuring. Brick-and-mortar retailers are expected to give up some physical store space as they adopt offline and online, or omni-channel strategies.

Malls are getting creative with their excess space and are evolving into social hubs that focus on customer experience. They are dedicating more space to play areas, KidZania-like edutainment, new-generation cinemas and concept stores. However, these spaces fetch lower rents on per sq ft basis than if they were let out to small speciality stores.

On a more positive note, these new experiences may bring some lustre back to the retail market and help to attactt foot traffic to the mall. They are also more sustainable alternatives than increasing F&B offerings. The latter might involve a lot of investment as F&B is a very competitive segment. In addition, their crowd-pulling capacity is restricted to lunch and dinner hours.

Creating new experiences more sustainable than increasing F&B offerings



Some landlords have adopted new technologies to counter the soft retail market and rents. For example, the CAPITASTAR App is more than just a reward programme to retain customer loyalty; it is a tool to gain insight into customers’ habits and preferences.

Finally, let us accept the fact that our market is tiny. The exit of retail brands will dull the local retail scene and compromise Singapore’s position as a shopping destination, risking more leakage of shopping dollars overseas. Governments and landlords might wish to step up efforts to boost demand such as collaborating with travel agencies and extending discount vouchers for tourists. This would result in higher tourist dollars to make up for the tiny domestic market. Meanwhile, landlords and retailers should focus on how to increase demand for their products and services.
 

Narong Wongwan

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straitstimes.com
Tough times at Far East Plaza
MELISSA LIN

Far East Plaza, once a popular haunt for teenagers, seems to have fallen out of favour.

The Straits Times, which visited the mall several times over the past month, saw more than 10 stores on the first floor with their shutters down and displaying "For Lease" signs.

While the eateries on levels one, four and five were bustling during lunch hour, few customers ventured into the shops.

Tenants said business has slowed by as much as 50 per cent, compared to a decade ago.

"There are simply too many mega malls which have opened in the past five years, and it is the norm to see retail tenants change every two to three years," said the mall's centre manager, Mr Kenneth Lim.

For 33-year-old Far East Plaza, adapting to the competition will not be easy.

For a major revamp to be carried out, the majority of the strata-titled mall's more than 500 individual owners will need to agree to it, which would be challenging, Mr Lim acknowledged.

The last major revamp was in 2005, when it spent $6.53 million to improve its floors, ceilings and external walkways.

Three years earlier, department store Metro vacated its 50,000 sq ft space on the first floor. It was replaced by Level One, a warren of shops selling apparel mainly targeted at teenagers.

Times have changed, said Ms Joanne Teo, 32, who has been working at Level One clothing store Red 2 for the past 13 years.

"When Level One opened, Ion and 313@somerset hadn't opened yet. H&M, which also sells cheap clothes, also hadn't come to Singapore," she said, adding that footfall at Level One has fallen by 50 per cent over the years.

Another of Level One's pioneer clothing stores, Code Red, may move to a suburban mall if business does not improve, said an owner, Madam Joanna Tie, 50.

Clothing shops on the other floors of the five-storey mall are not faring any better.

However, the nail and hair salons still enjoy a steady stream of customers.

Ms Kelly Chong, 36, part-owner of hair salon Queen's Cut on the fifth floor, said her business relies on regulars, who make up 70 per cent of her customers.

Mr Charles Yue, 56, a property agent helping to lease out the mall's units, said there are around 30 vacant units out of some 600 shops.

"They are usually vacant for three to six months," he said. "Each lease is about two years, although cases where tenants want to break their lease before it is up have become more common."

Mr Ong Kah Seng, director of property consultancy R'ST Research, estimates that rents, which are set by individual owners, have fallen by between 10 and 15 per cent over the past two to three years.

The mall could reposition itself as an incubator for budding entrepreneurs, he suggested. Vacant units can be sub-divided into smaller shops and offered rent-free for the first three months to young retailers with innovative products.

"If such an energising, new vibrant concept gets mass appeal and recognised, then it will earn accolades for the mall - as one which offers entry retailers a platform to successfully start their services," he said.

Polytechnic student Yumi Ono, 23, said she used to shop at the mall a few years back, but now buys her clothes online.

"All these clothes can be found on blogshops. Why do I need to travel when I can buy online?" she said.

Still, there are tenants who are willing to stay because of the cheaper rental and flexibility, compared to developer-owned malls.

Madam Lilian Tan, who is in her 60s and helps out at her daughter's clothing store on the third floor, said: "Those malls also dictate what time to open and close (a shop). Here, if we feel like opening, we open. If we don't, we can keep the shop closed."


Far East was the place back then. The hip hangout place.
It had the first Wendy's and had Far East kids.
Valentine's music was there and elim chew got her first shop there selling LP t shirts and pop buttons pins.
Peter and guys had a branch there too.....
Later the rooftop had the iconic Woodstock
 

Pinkieslut

Alfrescian
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No buzz in Orchard Road’s increasingly vacant malls

by Wan Ting Koh and Najeer Yusof

IT IS now getting more common to see vacant units or large hoardings covering shopfronts as you walk along Orchard Road, and these are not always because of renovation works. More tenants are giving up their spaces along Orchard Road, the prime shopping belt, amidst a gloomy economy. Urban Redevelopment Authority data shows that the vacancy rate in the Orchard Road area rose 1.2 percentage points to 8.8 per cent in the first quarter of the year, apparently the highest in five years.

Unfortunately, there is a vicious cycle to the retail industry, according to an ST article published on April 28. Imagine this: As customers walk past vacant or boarded spaces, they form a poor impression of that mall – one that would unlikely see them returning. This explains the decline in shopping traffic, which in turn discourages potential tenants from entering the retail market. It also creates losses for existing tenants, resulting in their exit from the retail scene. More units become vacant; the cycle continues.

Next, the rising popularity of e-commerce. There is no doubt that online shopping has won the hearts of many – for its convenience, affordability, variety – and is increasingly the preferred choice for more people.

The entry of retail brands Uniqlo and H&M into heartland malls have also taken a toll on the business of these units in city malls. Now, it seems like city malls can only place their bets on tourist traffic, said Ms Christine Li, director of research at commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, in the ST article.

Last week, we visited five malls to see how business was doing and saw no lack of vacant shop units.

1. Far East Plaza

Far East Plaza

The mall opened in 1983 with 114 shops. We did a count of the number of units shown in the mall’s floor plans and later took a walk to see the number of stores that were vacant or shuttered. The mall comprises mainly small boutiques, hair and nail salons, and tattoo parlours, with eateries dominating the uppermost floor. When we visited on a weekday, we observed mainly office workers visiting the fifth floor during lunch hour. A quick round revealed only four shops shuttered or had leasing notices plastered in front.

A walk along the lower floors, however, revealed a different story. Of the 146 units on the fourth floor, 12 were closed. The neighbour of a corner shop that was placed for rent, Ms Elaine who worked in Hay’s Formula International, said that it had only been on offer for a few weeks. She noted that the unit used to be a beauty salon and had been split into three separate units to accommodate different tenants.

On our rounds, we bumped into one of Far East Plaza’s many property agents, Ms Josephine Chan from Orange Tee. She said that tenants faced demands of “sky high prices” from their landlords and some were just unable to sustain their businesses. Another problem she pointed out was “picky” landlords who refused potential tenants based on their businesses or brands. Tenants also faced manpower issues, such as difficulty in hiring staff, she added. Ms Chan said that rental costs have since dropped from $50 per square foot (psf) to $12 psf to attract more tenants.

Worse still is the ghost town on the ground floor of Far East Plaza. It is hard to believe it was once a thriving area filled with clothing boutiques and thronging crowds of teens who flocked there during the school holidays. Now, there is only a smattering of shops open. Curious onlookers glanced into them while passing through two columns of shops already boarded up. X-Craft, which sells bags and accessories, is one of the few remaining shops. Its shop assistant, Ms Jessica Chang, said that new tenants had came and left within a few months. The only stores that had a strong showing on the ground floor were small eateries such as Chot-Nun, a Korean dessert place, and Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks. Similarly, at level two, only Gong Cha and noodle restaurant Eat enjoyed brisk business.

According to a Straits Times report in 2015, Mr Ong Kah Seng, director of property consultancy R’ST Research, proposed that the mall could be redesigned as a testbed for aspiring entrepreneurs. “If such an energising, new vibrant concept gets mass appeal and recognised, then it will earn accolades for the mall – as one which offers entry retailers a platform to successfully start their services,” he said.

Another suggestion for Far East Plaza to stay afloat was for it to undergo a major revamp. However, this strata-titled mall would require the consent of more than 500 individual owners, which may be difficult.

2. Mandarin Gallery

Mandarin Gallery

Mandarin Gallery is a four storey building that houses high end retail brands such as Paul Smith and GR Luxury. It had gone through a major renovation in January 2009. Not all was hunky dory at the mall when we visited on a weekday afternoon. From the facade of the building, we could see ongoing construction works for a new Victoria Secret outlet and another by American fashion brand Michael Kors. But on the second and third floors, at least eight units were vacant or boarded up without any sign of potential new tenants out of the some 62 units. Traffic was slow, with mainly a trickle of tourists.

Landlords are claiming a 94 per cent occupancy rate, but the number of boarded or empty units seemed incongruous with the statistic. Unlike the front facing units which announced new tenants, the hoardings within the mall had ambiguous signage that stated “OMG we can’t wait to show you the best!”. Some ex-tenants, like The Denim Store, had moved to other locations along Orchard Road.

The Denim Store vacated their premises on the third floor a month ago, to take up new premises in nearby 313 Orchard, leaving behind an empty unit that was visible behind glass doors. A few doors down, another unit that was home to Standard Chartered bank was boarded up. Ms Hasitawet Angthana, a part-time shop assistant at Flight 001 which faces the former premises of The Denim Store, said that customers who passed by were usually heading to restaurants Wild Honey or Ma Maison Tonkatsu. Flight 001 had luggage bags on sale.

3. Orchard Central

Orchard Central

At Orchard Central (OC), hoardings covered most of the shopfronts from the ground to fourth floor as the mall is undergoing major renovation works, seven years after its official opening. The remaining shops which stayed open on the upper floors are suffering from the sparse inflow of shoppers, who may have thought that the whole mall was under renovation. Business for the food and beverage (F&B) outlets on the seventh and eighth floors however, remained bustling.

We visited the floors which weren’t undergoing renovation to see how they fared. On the fifth floor was a confusing maze of shops which wound up all the way to the sixth floor in the form of a ramp. This ramp used to be dominated by numerous small retail boutiques, but was now silent and shuttered save for three – one of which was used as an art space.

The other two left standing were DZ Bags and Spinworkx, a shop which sold yo-yos and kendamas. On the fifth floor, Tagstyle, a shop selling ladies apparel, and a Korean Bingsu shop remained. Other shops on the fifth and sixth floors include Evolve, a mixed martial arts gym; Hom Yoga, an IT graphics school; and Totally Hot Stuff, a store which sold paraphernalia – gadgets, novel gifts, and household items.

Ms Fong, the manager of one of the shops that has been situated on that floor for two years, told us that the boutique stores on the fifth floor have been shuttered for close to a year. She thought they were likely to remain so. There haven’t been any prospective buyers eyeing the spaces, she said. She said shoppers who visit actually “come here for a purpose” – classes at the gym or school. Plus, rent was another factor. “The rents increase annually, so if there is no customer flow, it is hard to survive,” she said.

“For us, we are niche. We are the only physical store selling yo-yos in Singapore, and we are known as we organise Asia-Pacific competitions. We survive because of customer loyalty and because of our other events,” she said. She added that the layout of the mall was “so confusing” that people got lost walking around.

She wasn’t the only one who thought the layout was an issue. Ms Chris Lee, who mans Bubblegum, a store selling printed tee shirts on the sixth floor, agreed that the layout was a problem. She compared OC to Causeway Point, a suburban shopping mall beside Woodlands MRT where the shops were all visible at a glance. “Here, when you come out of the lift, there is nothing,” she said.

The store gained customers and revenue by having booths in the universities. “We sit here every day and some days, we get zero customers. It happens to everybody,” said the 49-year-old. The shop assistant had worked at two different clothing stores before settling at Bubblegum last year. Both businesses had not lasted past a year. Was it the high rent? Not really, said Ms Lee. To her it was more to do with the traffic. “The rent is not expensive but business is not buzzing, we have to depend on regulars,” she said.

What else kept people coming then? Food, said both Ms Fong and Ms Lee. The upper levels of the mall, which host F&B businesses such as K.Cook and Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant, saw regular throngs of people during lunch and dinner hours. Even at level four, situated in the midst of all the hoarding, the themed Pompompurin Cafe was teeming with patrons, with a queue of around 30 patrons forming at the entrance at three in the afternoon. At least 11 other units were open out of the total 18.

4. Orchard Gateway

Orchard Gateway

Right next to OC, Orchard Gateway is directly accessible from Somerset MRT via a link to its basement one level. However, this traffic does not seem to reach the upper levels of the mall. The mall officially opened its doors a mere two years ago, and the landlord claims that the occupancy rate is at 98 per cent, but the vacant shop units in parts of the mall showed otherwise.

On the third level, out of 19 units, around four were boarded up. A shop assistant at a ladies apparel store, who only wanted to be known as Ms Pamela, said that those shops, which closed about a month ago, had barely any traffic, even when they had “huge sales”. Her own store survived on a base of regulars who came back to buy their clothing. She added that even though there was more traffic now that OC is under renovation, customers were still headed for the mall’s restaurants.

In basement two of the mall, out of some 45 units, at least two units were closed and another was used as a resting space. Upmarket home decor and furniture store, Crate and Barrel, took up five units. A shop assistant at Underground, a ladies apparel store, who wanted to be known as Ms Fiona, said that they received around 10 to 20 walk-in and regular customers daily. The store has a total of 11 branches. She thought that the bad economy was to blame for the slowing traffic. “Those who have a budget would rather go to Bugis Street. It depends on their mood and how much they can afford,” she said.

5. Pacific Plaza

Pacific Plaza

It was an even more dismal scene at Pacific Plaza, located beside Shaw Centre, where more than half of the units on the first floor were covered by hoarding. An Adidas Original store and Starbucks were the only two units that were operating on the first floor of the mall. You couldn’t tell that the mall used to house high fashion brands Miu Miu and Prada.

Formerly, one of the mall’s most memorable attractions is That CD Shop. It was one of the few remaining CD shops that made its presence on the ground level, blasting music through its open doors. The store occupied the first and second levels, and was mentioned on travel website TripAdvisor as a place for “genuine” CDs. We are not sure when That CD Shop made its exit, but the last review on Trip Advisor dated back to 2014.

Now, the only deafening thing on the first floor is its silence. The other units there were covered with hoarding which promised “new exciting stores coming your way”. We spoke to shop assistants Ms Joyce Lee and Ms Isabelle Neo from Twirl and Twirl, a second floor shop which sold gymnastics and ballet apparel for girls, and they said that there was little “trickle-down” traffic from the steady stream of yogis. This group only visited True Yoga, which occupies 13,000 square feet, and Bikram Hot Yoga, which occupies 5,000 square feet, on the fourth and fifth floors respectively. Instead, Twirl and Twirl gets a niche group of customers who seek them out specifically to buy ballet shoes or outfits.

It was the same story for a clinic on the third floor. A part-time assistant, who wanted to be known as Ms Tham, said that they get “regulars and a loyal base who come for consultation and word gets around too”. Of the other stores in the mall, she said: “Sometimes I don’t work [for] some months, and when I come back, the shops are gone.” Not all is lost however – some shops were as long-lived as others were short. One example is Quintessential, a longstanding handbag and jewellery store that counts at least 10 years of residency at Pacific Plaza.

However, efforts have been made to revive the retail scene. Orchard Gateway and Orchard Central’s landlords have started to offer rental rebates of 20 to 30 per cent a month, in a bid to lure tenants. Orchard Central and Mandarin Gallery also had pop-up retail stores last year. In addition, malls are looking at the expansion of F&B businesses, cleverly tapping on our love for food.

Images by Najeer Yusof.

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halsey02

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Far East was the place back then. The hip hangout place.
It had the first Wendy's and had Far East kids.
Valentine's music was there and elim chew got her first shop there selling LP t shirts and pop buttons pins.
Peter and guys had a branch there too.....
Later the rooftop had the iconic Woodstock

Knew the place at the back of my hand, back then... nowadays I.have not been there for ages....MacD, KFC...Anitola Restaurant ( Turkish) are they still there, the 5th floor eateries...the cascading fountain..Han's....one of cheaper tailor I use to patronise....is Super Cuts still there?....Missed METRO DEPT STORE...& roaming the place....

Nowadays..shopping malls have the same look & feel, same shops, same eateries same..same....boring.., we used to have Far East Plaza, Lucky Plaza, Peninsular Shopping Centre, Katong Shopping, Queensway, Specialist Centre, Heeren,Paradiz, Shaw Center, Wisma Atria, Centrepoint....even Funan Center....& where else...all have its unique charm & different mixtures of shops offering all sorts of merchandise....

Nowadays.....shopping malls, all same, same...& damn boring!
 
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johnny333

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used to have shoppers coming from Indonesia. Some of the comments I'm hearing is that prices in Spore is more expensive or almost the same as in Indonesia.

When you factor in the high cost of hotels, costs of an air tix, it's no wonder that the numbers of Indonesian visitors have fallen.

The PAP has been too greedy. They have been increasing costs here without thinking about the impact of such increases.
 

shittypore

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used to have shoppers coming from Indonesia. Some of the comments I'm hearing is that prices in Spore is more expensive or almost the same as in Indonesia.

When you factor in the high cost of hotels, costs of an air tix, it's no wonder that the numbers of Indonesian visitors have fallen.

The PAP has been too greedy. They have been increasing costs here without thinking about the impact of such increases.

Bro, dont look at tos rich indo, we here also cls shop once they open the flood gates to cheap labour and jack up rentals across the board. Esrly 2000 at least Sinkies are seen shopping at Orchard rd. Now even tos retail at Hardland also no Sinkies want to walk in, msny shop online,cheaper, better and fast as Zerro lim put it.
 

frenchbriefs

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used to have shoppers coming from Indonesia. Some of the comments I'm hearing is that prices in Spore is more expensive or almost the same as in Indonesia.

When you factor in the high cost of hotels, costs of an air tix, it's no wonder that the numbers of Indonesian visitors have fallen.

The PAP has been too greedy. They have been increasing costs here without thinking about the impact of such increases.

i think the increasing cost of rent is a indirect result of the mass immigration population growth ponzi,as PAP squeeze more and more people onto the island,land available for use naturally becomes more and more scarce driving up competition for the limited retail and commercial space......this drives up the cost of business and makes things more expensive and also unaffordable rent like unaffordable housing so forcing businesses out of business.....i think ultimately PAP is stabbing itself in the foot and making SG unconducive for business.

also one more thing,most of the sinkie population are unable to support the high cost economy in sg because they are low paid wage slaves.....our pathetic wages do not justify the high cost of living in SG.unless PAP implements minimum wage like New York City or Australia,this economy is doomed to fail.....the bubble economy and cheap credit supply will eventually end.
 

johnny333

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Bro, dont look at tos rich indo, we here also cls shop once they open the flood gates to cheap labour and jack up rentals across the board. Esrly 2000 at least Sinkies are seen shopping at Orchard rd. Now even tos retail at Hardland also no Sinkies want to walk in, msny shop online,cheaper, better and fast as Zerro lim put it.


The Indonesian I'm referring to are the middle class & not the rich. They are price sensitive & that is why they are avoiding Spore.

I've been Travelling to JB & Batam regularly for years. Now I see more Uncles, aunties, guest workers. from Spore. Sporeans are now the ones doing the travelling to get a break from expensive Spore.
 

halsey02

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The Indonesian I'm referring to are the middle class & not the rich. They are price sensitive & that is why they are avoiding Spore.

I've been Travelling to JB & Batam regularly for years. Now I see more Uncles, aunties, guest workers. from Spore. Sporeans are now the ones doing the travelling to get a break from expensive Spore.

I have have been shopping in JB for helluva long time....never mind Batam....for example....a bottle of Multivitamins in which I take daily from young costs S$35....from the days it was $15 - $18 - $22 - $25 - $28 - $30------ the same thing, from the same manufacturer, this is a decades own patented vitamins...cost 35 in JB....thirty five Malaysian Ringgit.....for S$35 I can buy 2 bottles over there....& there are other things too.....though cost have gone up over time...& with their GST costs added...IT IS STILL CHEAPER than here...that is why I rarely step into UNITY or GURADIAN here, another example, one strip of OTC drug ( over the counter), here at Unity etc I have to produce NRIC, register, ask reason why I am buying & it cost me $12 a strip of 10 tablets, I can get the very same thing much cheaper you know where, without all the "wayang" ID thing & in HK too & in Thailand.......unless I cannot help it I use the UNITY etc here & buy what is needed...

Have you consider factoring, the cost of running country with a BLOATED GOVERNMENT that is the costliest on this earth...this is pushing our prices up & making stripping away our competitiveness?????:mad:
 
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