Tag Archives: 313@Somerset

313@Somerset gets 14.5m visitors in 11 months

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Just five months into its operations, shopping mall 313@Somerset at Orchard Road has received more than 14.7 million visitors, higher than its original target of 10 million.

SPRING Singapore says the mall’s recipe for success can be attributed to its commitment to customer satisfaction.

It entails more than just good service quality.

The mall has also focused on meeting the two other drivers of customer satisfaction – customers’ expectations and the value of its services.

The mall embarked on the Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI) in February last year.

The aim is to maximise its customer experience and to meet its vision of becoming Singapore’s leading retail destination for mid-market fashion, food and lifestyle.

The CCI is a multi-agency initiative that is part of the Go-the-Extra-Mile for Service (GEMS) movement to transform Singapore’s service quality in the retail, food & beverage, hospitality, healthcare and transport sectors.

313@Somerset shared its experiences with Minister Lim Swee Say in the Prime Minister’s Office.

According to the owners of 313@Somerset, one area of focus was to ensure that the interface between customers and staff was seamless.

Queries by customers had to be attended to quickly through a dedicated concierge programme.

313@Somerset has placed its concierge counter prominently at the centre of the atrium and the counter does everything from taxi bookings and shopping delivery to providing interpreters.

When selecting concierge teams, staff who could speak multiple languages was also considered.

This took into account that 30 per cent of its customer base came from neighbouring countries.

Its concierge teams are able to communicate in Mandarin, Cantonese, Bahasa Indonesia, Malay, Tagalog, and English.

The mall set up a dedicated training and career centre to offer in-house training on retail service excellence and business etiquette to the employees of its retailers six months before the mall was scheduled to open.

With the aim of creating a service culture in Orchard Road, it extended the training to employees of other malls as well.

In July 2009, 313@Somerset became the first retail mall in Singapore to be awarded Accredited Training Organisation status which allows the mall to conduct its own training.

To date, over 1,000 employees have completed the accredited training.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 14 May 2010

S$1m training centre for retail industry opens in the heart of Orchard Road

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A new S$1 million training centre for Singapore’s retail industry has opened in the heart of the Orchard Road shopping belt.

The 313@Somerset Training and Career Centre is run by Australian property firm Lend Lease with SPRING Singapore and the Workforce Development Council.

The new Training and Career Centre is located across the road from the 313@Somerset retail mall and it aims to raise service standards in the local retail industry.

It will offer courses accredited by the Workforce Development Agency to people working in the retail sector in areas such as customer interaction.

But Lend Lease said service training is not just about window dressing.

Michael Kenderes, Lend Lease Development director, said: “It’s also important for a culture that you are trying to create within a centre. It’s really important that customers get consistency in service. If they get consistency in service you get a reputation, and you become a sustainable business.”

The Australian firm said this centre could be a boon for retailers who want to improve their staff but lack the funds because of the downturn. That’s because the training fee is footed by Lend Lease and SPRING.

Classes start on August 1 with 1,000 retail workers already signed up.

And the location of the centre is also an advantage.

Sng Ng Ngoi May, chairman, Orchard Road Business Association, said: “Land lords have also tried to encourage retailers to send their staff. But the problem is, because they are so thinly staffed, many are small operations.

“It’s very hard to release staff especially if they have to travel some distance for training. So the fact that you have it right on Orchard Road will at least solve that part of the problem.”

Lend Lease said the subsidised training could save the industry some S$3 million a year.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 27 Jul 2009

313@Somerset says customer service will be top-notch

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313@Somerset will be the last of the three new malls to open along Orchard Road this year. But it’s promising a shopping experience that will keep customers coming back.

The shops may be mid-range but 313@Somerset said the customer service will be top-notch.

By November, the eight-storey mall, will have shops offering food, fashion and lifestyle treats.

And it will be the newest kid on the block, hot on the heels of Orchard Central and ION Orchard.

But 313@Somerset is confident it will stand out.

Mike Kenderes, development director, Lend Lease Retail, said: “Our retail mix is really going to differentiate us. Also, our whole shopper experience from our concierge programme to the way we designed our mall. There’s a lot of natural light and there are a lot of features.”

The mall is more than 90 per cent leased.

Retailers who have signed on include Zara and Forever 21 which will both open flagship stores in the mall.

And Marche will be among the F&B outlets.

Mr Kenderes added: “We’re just under five months from opening and we’re over 90 per cent leased. We have some really exciting retail which means in the next period we’re going to be 100 per cent leased when open. Under fashion, we’re pleased to announce we’ve got a new Zara flagship store over three levels.

“We also have Forever 21 opening a brand new 4-level flagship store which will also anchor our level 1, Orchard Road facing retail. Other retailers, fashion retailers, we have Esprit, Mango, Lacoste. In terms of food, we have the largest Food Republic coming into Singapore. We also have Marche coming back into Orchard Road.”

Lend Lease said service quality will be a key area for the new mall.

It’s starting a training and employment centre which will focus on customer service and presentation, by the end of the month.

313@Somerset also sits right on top of Somerset MRT, which means commuters can very conveniently get off the train and go shopping.

The mall has a net lettable space of just over 290,000 square feet.

Lend Lease said it’s committed to working together with other malls on that stretch to consolidate the whole Somerset precinct. This could involve marketing programmes.

The mall opens in the last week of November.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 9 Jul 2009

New malls opening at Orchard Road to rejuvenate area

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Singapore’s prime shopping belt Orchard Road is set for a revival, with three new malls to be launched by the end of the year and two refurbished fronts. The malls include Orchard Central and 313@Somerset, and the new fronts are at Mandarin Gallery and Park Hotel Orchard.

That amounts to about 1.8 million square feet of new retail space, bringing the total space available at Orchard Road to eight million square feet.

Beyond the malls, plans are underway for large-scale themed events for the street throughout the year.

Chairman of Orchard Road Business Association, Sng Ngoi May, said: “Orchard Road Business Association sees 2009 as a year that we will remember as a milestone in the modern Orchard Road. After a lapse of 15 years, we are going to see three completely new malls coming on stream.

“The plan started earlier, with the makeover of the street by the government, (who) spent about S$40 million. (The makeover resulted) in wider pedestrian walkway, a retiled pedestrian walkway, urban green rooms and state-of-the-art lighting, plus something not so obvious – they have also provided the infrastructure where we can tap electricity on the street.”

The walk down Orchard Road is set to get even more exciting, going by the government’s development plans. Shoppers will have choices galore when it comes to large-scale themed events that take place throughout the year.

Group director of urban planning and design at Urban Redevelopment Authority, Fun Siew Leng, said: “The next stage really is not to put in more hardware, but to put in more software aspects. How can we make Orchard Road full of activities that are exciting and to continue to attract new visitors?

“The Singapore Tourism Board will be taking the lead. The agency will champion to promote, market, and have a coordinated calendar of events to continue to keep Orchard Road exciting for people. So you can look forward to more coordinated themed events.

“They will have four main themes, for example (there will be) one based on lifestyle, (one on) fashion, one on the Singapore Grand Prix, and another on the Christmas light-up. Then they will build along these themes and have other side events to pull together to make all these events bigger.”

The Orchard Road Business Association said the first event may be rolled out as early as next year.

Sng said: “With all these developments, we see Orchard Road as offering more than just shopping. On the street, we want to continue to offer something that is visually pleasing to the eye, like art installations, and the urban green rooms – you can have performances in the urban green rooms, and retailers can also use the urban green rooms for display of merchandise. And (there will also be) other street activities like buskers, good quality buskers.”

While most of the key changes will be found in the core region of Orchard Road, the fringes will undergo some development too.

Fun said: “There is also a park which we are developing at the open space on top of Dhoby Gaut MRT. This is a project we initiated to create more public space for people to use.

“The land on top of the MRT station is not being sold for some time to come. And instead of just leaving it vacant, we thought it will be good if we can make it into an open space for the time being and allow people to enjoy it, to use it.”

Orchard Road has not seen a new mall in more than a decade, so there is clearly much anticipation about the new additions to the street. The first to open its doors will be Orchard Central in July.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 11 Jun 2009

313@Somerset launches S$1m Retail Training and Employment Centre

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A new S$1 million Retail Training and Employment Centre has been launched in conjunction with the upcoming mall at Orchard Road, 313@Somerset.

313@Somerset is being developed by Land Lease Retail Singapore.

The project is the first major fully integrated retail development in Asia undertaken by the company.

Lend Lease said the new centre is aimed at providing free retail training to the employees of retailers at the mall.

The centre is expected to be fully operational by the middle of 2009 and will train about 1,000 employees and potential employees during its first year.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 27 Nov 2008

New foreign brands to set up shop at 313@Somerset in 2009

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Some popular international brands will come to Singapore by the end of 2009 when 313@Somerset opens its doors to shoppers for the first time.

The new mall opposite Centrepoint is being developed by Australia’s Lend Lease, which had put in a record bid for the site.

Now, six months into its leasing campaign, Lend Lease said that interest from both local and foreign retailers has been overwhelming. Work is still in progress, but about 200 local and foreign brands are waiting to call the place home.

Lend Lease is not revealing just yet about who are coming to town, but it said the names will be big.

Mike Kenderes, Development Director, Lend Lease Retail, said: “We are in very close discussions with major fashion retailers in the mid-range offer. We’re also looking to secure some international brands that are new to this market – which are taking a little longer.”

Lend Lease is putting together a strong fashion mix in the mid to upper mid-range price bracket. It hopes this will go some way in turning the spotlight onto the Somerset stretch, which has in recent months fallen behind new malls down the road.

Mr Kenderes continued: “There’s three shopping centres being developed at the moment. We’re excited as there will be a new critical mass at this end of Somerset Road.

“There are key department stores already existing – John Little, Marks & Spencer, Robinsons. We think they anchor the area and that’s why our offer is very much suited around speciality retail.”

Lend Lease is not planning to have an anchor tenant. Instead, it said that its largest space will go to a ‘food loft’. And already, four of Singapore’s main food outlet operators are competing to run it.

Lend Lease said that despite the number of recent retail developments here, Singapore still has the capacity for more.

Lend Lease also owns and manages Parkway Parade and said that it is open to looking at more opportunities around the island. – CNA/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 21 May 2008