Real estate company CapitaLand is calling for ideas for Funan DigitaLife Mall, which is set to close its doors for three years for redevelopment works from Jul 1. About 388,000 sq ft will be added to the mall’s current Gross Floor Area of 482,000 sq ft when the redevelopment is completed, according to CapitaLand. In a media release on Friday (Apr 15), CapitaLand said the public can submit their...
Singapore Retail
Heartland retailers will receive greater financial assistance for upgrading works under the enhanced Revitalisation of Shops (ROS) scheme, announced the Ministry of National Development (MND) on Monday (April 11). The upgraded ROS package, which will cost about S$15 million yearly, was first revealed by Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat in his Budget statement last month. Since 2007, about half of all...
Anchor tenants – like major department stores and big name brands – have long been used to pull the crowds into shopping malls. But against a more challenging retail landscape, industry analysts told Channel NewsAsia that this strategy may no longer have the same draw. The landlord-anchor tenant relationship is also coming under the spotlight, amid an ongoing rental dispute between landlord Ngee...
Japanese cheap-chic fashion brand Uniqlo will open its first global flagship store in Singapore and in the South-east Asia region "this autumn", according to a press release on Tuesday (Mar 29). The new store, which will be the largest in Singapore and the region, will be located in Orchard Central, and will have a sales area of about 2,700 square metres across three levels in the mall, the company...
FACED with a challenging retail environment, the Al-Futtaim group will continue to close stores in Singapore, but expand its footprint elsewhere in promising Asian markets. The group, which owns Robinsons, will shutter at least ten stores this year as it restructures its bleeding Singapore operations. This comes after it announced a number of closures last year, including its Marks & Spencer (M&S)...
Business associates for more than 22 years, the landlord of Ngee Ann City and its anchor tenant, department store Takashimaya, are tussling in a dispute over rent. In a High Court hearing that started yesterday, Ngee Ann Development and Takashimaya are seeking to resolve a deadlock as they cannot agree on the interpretation of a 2014 agreement on how rental rate is to be valued. The two parties...
Japanese lifestyle brand Muji is planning a new flagship store in Singapore. Masaaki Kanai, chairman of Muji's parent company Ryohin Keikaku, said on Tuesday (Mar 15) that the new flagship store is estimated to be around 3,300 square metres and will feature more lifestyle concepts. "Apart from the usual Muji products, the store will have an 'Open Muji' concept where community creators are invited to...
As Singapore retailers face pressure from the slowing economy, Orchard Road malls are looking for new ways to draw the crowds. Besides renovating the mall and changing the tenant mix, landlords are also throwing in free performances in a bid to attract the crowds. For example, over the weekend, shoppers at ION Orchard witnessed a series of aerial circus acts. The performances marked the completion of...
Home furnishing and accessories shop iwannagohome will close its outlets in Singapore, its parent company confirmed on Friday (Feb 26). Both its branches at Tanglin Mall and Great World City will be closed, said a spokesperson for the brand, which debuted in Singapore in 2007. Clearance sales have begun at both outlets. A retail employee told Channel NewsAsia that he was told the shop would close...
Construction group Lian Beng has inked a deal to buy Broadway Plaza in Ang Mo Kio for S$51.5 million. Broadway Plaza is a leasehold 5-storey commercial property in Ang Mo Kio Central facing Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6. It sits on a land area of 18,450 sq ft and has a gross floor area of approximately 55,351 sq ft. The property has about 61 years left on its lease. It bought this as a "strategic investment"...