BEST @ Plaza Singapura Is CLOSING DOWN.

[Balls2U]

Jap Companies are starting to realize that middle-class Sinkies are generally too poor to buy their products and the GDP figures Singapore has is all but blowhard

So many are in HDB Arrears.. How can they afford to buy electronics from Best Denki??

Of course there are rich people in Singapore but in general, they are saving up to weather the next storm!

Quite true. Still remember Yokoso and Kimisawa supermarket in the 80s? It was gone after a few yrs!

 

[Ramseth]

BESt Denki....it was part of Yahon I think.... I miss Yaohan at Plaza SINgapura...now known as PS...

You guys remember the supermarket at the basement? & Yaohan Store at Thomson Plaza??

Yaohan used to be my favourite one-stop shopping haunt. It was supermarket, department store, sportshop, electronic, electrical, software and hardware, coffee house (later turned food court) all-in-one. For those who remember, their famous logo was the at-one-era iconic green globe.

Best Denki was founded as a separate company partially owned by Yaohan from Yaohan's electrical department that grew too big as to become unmanageable as a department but profitable as a subsidiary. Ironically, when Yaohan collapsed in Japan, it was Best Denki that survived.

 

[johnny333]

Can you play "smoke on the water"....?? I used to own a twelve string guitar after hearing America for the first time..."horse with no name"...I went out & bought myself one... never learnt guitar playing formally.. I can't read music notes still....

I also wanted one of those 12 string guitars after hearing him John Denver play one However settled on a Morris guitar from that store in Bras Basah near the old SJ.

Never got the hang of playing AND singing at the same time
Also struggled to memorise all those dots & squiggles. There alot of different guitar techniques like choking, ... My hat off to anyone who can pick up guitaring through DIY

 

[johnny333]

Yaohan used to be my favourite one-stop shopping haunt. It was supermarket, department store, sportshop, electronic, electrical, software and hardware, coffee house (later turned food court) all-in-one. For those who remember, their famous logo was the at-one-era iconic green globe.

Best Denki was founded as a separate company partially owned by Yaohan from Yaohan's electrical department that grew too big as to become unmanageable as a department but profitable as a subsidiary. Ironically, when Yaohan collapsed in Japan, it was Best Denki that survived.

Don't forget about the japanese bookstore Kinokuniya on the 2nd fl. Wasn't it owned by Yaohan

 

[Ramseth]

Don't forget about the japanese bookstore Kinokuniya on the 2nd fl. Wasn't it owned by Yaohan

I understand not owned, but Yaohan, Daimaru and Isetan and one time or another were (or still are for Isetan) big shareholders of Kinokuniya.

Daimaru Liang Court was another good Jap super-multi-mart in Singapore I miss. The other Jap supermarts that collapsed with the Jap bubble were Tokyu and Seiyu. I don't miss them since I didn't shop there much.

 

[aurvandil]

I doubt the PAP has a plan other than to increase rentals

If current trends continue "more" people will simply go elsewhere to shop in Malaysia, LOS,... The lower income group may not even be able to afford low budget shopping chains.

The PAP is playing a dangeous game, hungry people are angry people. Eventually they'll miscalculate & there'll be more violent outbreaks

Sadly, our hard working Customs officers have already forseen this and prepared for it. Previously, there was hardly any enforcement when you bring in goods bought overseas. Recently they have quietly started to raise awareness that if you bring in new goods above a certain value, you have to pay GST. When GST is eventually raised to 10%, there will probably be active enforcement of this so that revenue is not lost to Singaporeans who cross the Causeway do do things like grocery shopping.

The current retail shops and malls are designed for a mass affluent middle class of th 80's and 90's. The recent policies which widen the income gap means that this mass affluent middle class will slowly but surely disappear.

In time we will have a small group earning $20k to $30k a month and a very large group stuggling to get by on less than $2k a month. If you are looking to set up a retail outlet, you should therefore cater to this unpleasant future if the PAP is continued to allowed to stay in power.

 

[halsey02]

I also wanted one of those 12 string guitars after hearing him John Denver play one However settled on a Morris guitar from that store in Bras Basah near the old SJ.

Never got the hang of playing AND singing at the same time
Also struggled to memorise all those dots & squiggles. There alot of different guitar techniques like choking, ... My hat off to anyone who can pick up guitaring through DIY

We had a garage band ( not the software game), using our mother's washboard, bath tubs , some kitchen utensils..etc..we even have our own basement tapes ( which is now lost)..it would be hilarious hearing them, while attempting some John lennon songs...Oye como va..etc..ahh smoke on the water...led zep...etc..

There were no internet then, remember they use to sell those small size magazine with the latest songs & chords?...which sometime were inaccurate...other than that we play the songs over over over again to get the chords.. not hat accuratefor they have 7th, 9th keys & chords variarions. & changes we don't know..but we tried..

never took formal lessons....don't say I play well

 

[halsey02]

Yaohan used to be my favourite one-stop shopping haunt. It was supermarket, department store, sportshop, electronic, electrical, software and hardware, coffee house (later turned food court) all-in-one. For those who remember, their famous logo was the at-one-era iconic green globe.

Best Denki was founded as a separate company partially owned by Yaohan from Yaohan's electrical department that grew too big as to become unmanageable as a department but profitable as a subsidiary. Ironically, when Yaohan collapsed in Japan, it was Best Denki that survived.

Guess we are one of those regular user of Yaohan Dept Store/Supermarket, been to Plaza Sing & Thomson Plaza so oftern, till this day, I still can remember the layout of the place...Fairpice supermarker is pale in comparison...Yaohan has that homely feeling..or maybe we are just bias against anything that is PAP related, I really don;t know..what do you thing?..more homely friendly?

 

[aurvandil]

Fairpice supermarker is pale in comparison...Yaohan has that homely feeling..or maybe we are just bias against anything that is PAP related, I really don;t know..what do you thing?..more homely friendly?

I have fond memories of the old Yaohan too. I think it has less to do with Yaohan and more to do with memory of a Singapore which was a much better place than the Singapore of today.

 

[Charlie258]

I have fond memories of the old Yaohan too. I think it has less to do with Yaohan and more to do with memory of a Singapore which was a much better place than the Singapore of today.

I think you pretty much said it all, Bro. The Singapore of Yore. Everything so cheap and good. So delicious, fresh and sweet. And Ohhhh, the women.......so damn' bloody beautiful! Even the SIA girls then..... all kinds of International jet-setting tycoons would woo them. Now, oh my God...... even a Boomz Ah Lian with criminal record can be a Miss SG.

 

[Talking Donkey]

Both yaohan plaza spura and yaohan katong near where i live brings back fond memories,in the late 79 to early 80s as a young boy i use to attend a SA church near cockpit hotel,after service me an friends would head down to their amusement arcade at the basement and i would play the pacman game..put it i simply i was a champoin in tat pacman game..for 40cts i could play for 2to 3hrs because i am so good at it..that my score touches the max 9999999 until it went back to zero..with all the magical keys..those other players who have slot in their coins waiting for me to finish have to wait long long until their legs turn jelly,those were the good old days.

 

[Ramseth]

Just a linguistic trivia to share. In Japanese, Yaoya 八百屋 means grocery store generically before the advent of supermarkets. A lose Chinese equivalent in such Kanji usage would be 百货店 meaning department store. The name Yaohan 八百半 was adopted from there to mean a more than a grocery store.

 

[johnny333]

There were no internet then, remember they use to sell those small size magazine with the latest songs & chords?...which sometime were inaccurate...other than that we play the songs over over over again to get the chords.. not hat accuratefor they have 7th, 9th keys & chords variarions. & changes we don't know..but we tried..

never took formal lessons....don't say I play well

Those were the days when you had time to catch spiders

Nowadays I really have no idea what anyone does for fun without any money in Spore I don't think kids even have free time with all the tuition, enrichment classes, ECA,..

I think parents are robbing their kids of their childhood. Don't even know how those extra tuition, eca classes are going to help the kids succeed, but memories of good times will always be fondly remembered & treasured for a lifetime

 

[halsey02]

Those were the days when you had time to catch spiders

Nowadays I really have no idea what anyone does for fun without any money in Spore I don't think kids even have free time with all the tuition, enrichment classes, ECA,..

I think parents are robbing their kids of their childhood. Don't even know how those extra tuition, eca classes are going to help the kids succeed, but memories of good times will always be fondly remembered & treasured for a lifetime

Me really do not know, we had pressure in school too, I do not catch up with the top eight in class, I am done for. After school, we rarely talk about shcool work, of course we have to do our home work before we can go out to play & some of us have tution, which I did have, but it was fun. Catching spiders, flying kites, playing hide & seek, marbles, trade playing cards, read comics, DC, Marvel, Lau Fu Qi, play guitar, watch TV...only when exams are near, the monastry monks loose out to our dedication of no 'earthly pleasures' for almost a month until exams over & results are out..then, that is another story..if we make it or not...

 

[halsey02]

Both yaohan plaza spura and yaohan katong near where i live brings back fond memories,in the late 79 to early 80s as a young boy i use to attend a SA church near cockpit hotel,after service me an friends would head down to their amusement arcade at the basement and i would play the pacman game..put it i simply i was a champoin in tat pacman game..for 40cts i could play for 2to 3hrs because i am so good at it..that my score touches the max 9999999 until it went back to zero..with all the magical keys..those other players who have slot in their coins waiting for me to finish have to wait long long until their legs turn jelly,those were the good old days.

Yaohan Katong..after the left Ikea took over right & Ikea left, Cold Storage..haven't been there for a long time...who is at that spot now?...cool!, pacman...now you don;t need to slot in 40cts..pacman is free....so you are still good at it?

 

[lifeafter41]

BESt Denki....it was part of Yahon I think.... I miss Yaohan at Plaza SINgapura...now known as PS...

You guys remember the supermarket at the basement? & Yaohan Store at Thomson Plaza??

Plaza SIN...the top floor, McLionel King eatery...

There is Doremi too.

 

[Talking Donkey]

Yaohan Katong..after the left Ikea took over right & Ikea left, Cold Storage..haven't been there for a long time...who is at that spot now?...cool!, pacman...now you don;t need to slot in 40cts..pacman is free....so you are still good at it?

Now yaohan katong turn into condo...yup i am call the king of pacman by my competitors and also king of fighting spiders which i use to bush around at CMPB dempsey road..and my hand is fast too i use to steal some cookies at tay ban guan super market tat is why the install the camera:p

 

[Ramseth]

Both yaohan plaza spura and yaohan katong near where i live brings back fond memories,in the late 79 to early 80s as a young boy i use to attend a SA church near cockpit hotel,after service me an friends would head down to their amusement arcade at the basement and i would play the pacman game..put it i simply i was a champoin in tat pacman game..for 40cts i could play for 2to 3hrs because i am so good at it..that my score touches the max 9999999 until it went back to zero..with all the magical keys..those other players who have slot in their coins waiting for me to finish have to wait long long until their legs turn jelly,those were the good old days.

Yaohan Katong rooftop arcade was best for WW2 airfighter and battleship games. The rooftop atmosphere with sunlight raying in and glimpse of skyline view somehow made the games felt more real.

Yaohan Orchard basement arcade was best for lone-hero-versus-many villains shoot'em-up games. The no-window enclosed basement had the better atmosphere for these games, especially when you're aware that the nearest exit wasn't the escalator up but the underground tunnel.

PacMan, Space Invaders/Galaxians games were best for me at Golden Mile arcades before the ban and billiard saloons took over, followed by the Thai invasion with Thai pubs, travel agencies, bus and remittance companies.

Not so much about the atmosphere there, but more about the people. Unlike Yaohan arcades with a roving clientele, Golden Mile arcades were smaller and had at least 50% of clientele the same people daily. We made friends there and challenged each other. Those were the days.

 

[johnny333]

Sadly, our hard working Customs officers have already forseen this and prepared for it. Previously, there was hardly any enforcement when you bring in goods bought overseas. Recently they have quietly started to raise awareness that if you bring in new goods above a certain value, you have to pay GST. When GST is eventually raised to 10%, there will probably be active enforcement of this so that revenue is not lost to Singaporeans who cross the Causeway do do things like grocery shopping.

.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if there are plans to crack down on people bringing in goods from overseas. They've already started with cigarettes & alchohol. Howeve, even if you have to pay 10% gst, buying goods from abroad will still be cheaper because local businesses in Spore have higher overheads( high rentals & utilities).

As local businesses suffer, so too will the malls. Many of these malls are owned by Temasek.

As the gov't continues to increase costs in Spore, more Sporeans are going to emigrate to JB, Canada, Aust,.. PAP might think they can replace citizens with foreigners, but these foreigners will face the same price problems. Eventually Spore is not going to be un-attractive even to them.

Lets hope before all this happens, the old man up s the lorry

 

[Talking Donkey]

Yaohan Katong rooftop arcade was best for WW2 airfighter and battleship games. The rooftop atmosphere with sunlight raying in and glimpse of skyline view somehow made the games felt more real.

Yaohan Orchard basement arcade was best for lone-hero-versus-many villains shoot'em-up games. The no-window enclosed basement had the better atmosphere for these games, especially when you're aware that the nearest exit wasn't the escalator up but the underground tunnel.

PacMan, Space Invaders/Galaxians games were best for me at Golden Mile arcades before the ban and billiard saloons took over, followed by the Thai invasion with Thai pubs, travel agencies, bus and remittance companies.

Not so much about the atmosphere there, but more about the people. Unlike Yaohan arcades with a roving clientele, Golden Mile arcades were smaller and had at least 50% of clientele the same people daily. We made friends there and challenged each other. Those were the days.

i agree too that the games arcade at golden mile is much smaller,i was once on an OJT assignment at crawford HDB which was still under const and i use to go there and play my pacman there in the evening...and the lady at the coin changing counter on seeing me would say aiya its you again(hokien)because she knows for 40cts i can play for hrs:p.,i like galaxians too but not good at it.