Retail business situation in Singapore

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[youtube]u4BfHBW7RRs[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4BfHBW7RRs&feature=player_embedded

via : http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=67890&page=3

SengKang Square's huge Kopitiam food mall located next to Compassvale/LRT/MRT in the north of Singapore had been reported to be on record highest rental bid by Kopitiam Banquet Group. This was recorded on 10th September 2010 showing most of it's stalls closed and businesses ceased.
Stalls owes rentals and utility bills and are now being sued by Kopitiam Group and power and waters at stalls are cut-off. This is exposure against falsehood of EXCELLENT ECONOMY forged by Singapore's PAP / Lee Kuan Yew Regime. 新加坡咖啡店集团,生意惨淡经营。租金超高。踢爆经济良好假局。

http://sammyboy.com/showthread.php?p=558682&posted=1#post558682

This is yet another video follow up after these:

http://sammyboy.com/showthread.php?t=71343

http://sammyboy.com/showthread.php?t=67890



I was there twice recently. Really found the situation there had worsened badly.

It was busy and crowded when it was newly opened, every stalls were rented out at high prices and Kopitiam Banquet Group bid their record high rentals to get that building under their flag.

It is now gone and very hopelessly gone.

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via : http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=74718

[youtube]3uluRqhzqLM[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uluRqhzqLM&feature=player_embedded

From what I know this cafe used to sell high quality espresso & tea & cake etc, part of it opens very late. They provided wifi and even PCs for customers to use in very comfortable classy environment, better than Starbucks / Coffee Bean. Initially have business but poor, then gets poorer and poorer. They died even while there were still some customers.

[youtube]J2fuyAY4EkY[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2fuyAY4EkY&feature=player_embedded

Korean, Indian, Chicken Rice (no sign board), Fruits and Vietnamese stalls are dead and vacant in the brand new food court which is less than 6 months old. This is Burlington Square next to Sim Lim Square & La Salle Campus in Singapore. Businesses are dying in their very hard struggle of survival while world's highest paid government of PAP brag 15% economic growth and other falsehood to false-justify their own salaries.

When you look at F&B and how it relates to economic forces, you have to consider so many other things: the type of food, location, manpower, rent.

Can't really compare pao pao cha with, say Thai food. Pao pao cha is easy to make to be honest, and the overheads are low, even if the rent is high. What goes into the plastic cup? Water, some juices, pearls? Even the slightly more expensive brands like Koi that claim to serve you Swiss chocolate would have factored in a fat margin before they proceed with sales. And let's not forget, you don't need to pay for a chef to do pao pao cha.

Compare that with a Thai food stall. What goes onto the plate? An average plate of Phad Thai comprises prawns, kway tiao fried, all kinds of spices and condiments, and a chef's culinary expertise.

Assuming a plate of phad thai goes for $4.50, and so does a cup of Koi.

Now, you do the math

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Hawkers at popular Amoy Street lunch venue say it's hard to stay afloat
Busy, but no takers for 20 vacant stalls

By Shree Ann Mathavan
September 17, 2010

Despite the snaking queues of lunchtime crowds at Amoy Food Centre, along busy Maxwell Road, about 15 per cent of its stalls are vacant, an indication that all is not what it seems.

When The New Paper visited the two-storey centre yesterday, 20 out of about 130 stalls were vacant.

Stallholders and customers we spoke to said these stalls have been shut for several months with some remaining vacant for up to a year or two.

Those still in operation said the reason is simple: The closed stalls probably didn't make enough to sustain their overheads.

The current stallholders added that they too struggle to remain profitable mainly because there is no dinner crowd.

This badly affected some of the newer stalls which closed as they had bid about $2,000 to $3,000 for the space, said one stallholder.

This could not be confirmed with the National Environment Agency (NEA), the managing agent of the food centre.

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[youtube]i1sdPy3webk[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1sdPy3webk

via : http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=75634

Hey TS, you should go to SCAPE.. the new shopping centre just behind mandarain hotel. New and ghost town..

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is it going to be a common sight? having empty/closed stalls in the food court.

was at Yew Tee food court, the one at the mall near to the MRT. half a dozen stalls were closed on a regular afternoon lunch time.

the question is whether if those closed stalls will affect main tenant much? if it's just minor, and they can well afford the stalls sitting out of the revenue stream, then it's fine.

another question, since they are going to rake in less money bottom line, what makes of those ever climbing forecasted figures?

are things what they seem to be? or it's just like that?

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

too much retail outlets lah... these days younger generation don't need to window shop. they prefer to get online and get deliver to their doorsteps (which help them to be discrete in what they bought; such as high-end undergarment like victoria's secrets. :p)

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make sense.

refer to article :     [News] MasterCard: Singaporeans biggest online spenders
http://www.celicasg.org/index.php/topic,3451.0.html

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you buying VS stuff ah? for yourself ah? keke.
never know you so kinky... J/K.

agree totally on the discrete part.

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was at white sands food court last week or so.

kopitam managed.

i counted 4 stalls not in operation. 3 vacant. 1 with all the pots n pans kept, and no sign of any food prep.
it was a sunday afternoon. 

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Tenants on ITE campus losing money
Many owe rent due to poor business and have been told to vacate
By Jessica Lim

The Thai Cuisine stall in Matrix Cafeteria has closed down and next to go is the Indian Cuisine stall. Twenty out of 39 stallholders were handed lawyer's letters last week ordering them to settle their rental debts or hand over their stalls by today. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM

PRIVATE businesses at the Institute of Technical Education's (ITE) mega campus in the west are struggling to keep afloat.

The corridors outside the shops are quiet, and walk-in customers are rare - a stark contrast to what they were expecting, said tenants.

The situation seems particularly bad for stallholders in the two cafeterias on the 9.54ha campus in Choa Chu Kang, the first educational institution here to be built under a private-public partnership.

Out of the 39 stallholders, 20 - each with rental arrears of five months or more - were handed lawyer's letters last week ordering them to either settle the debt or hand over their stalls by today.

Other retailers, such as flower shop Puffin Flowers N Gifts and IT shop Mercury Technologies, said they are bleeding money too.

Only a few shops seem to be keeping their heads above water. One is the 7-Eleven outlet, which sells fast food such as fried chicken. It was packed with students yesterday afternoon, and retail assistants there said business is booming.

A $323.7 million contract to build and run the campus for 25 years was awarded to the Gammon Capital consortium in 2008. Its role was to do so under the private-public partnership model, leaving ITE free to focus on academic areas.

The plan was for the campus to house restaurants, shops, a convention centre and even functioning hotel rooms - all open to the public - so students would have hands-on training for future careers in tourism.

But Madam Loh Mei Lin, who owns a wonton noodles stall at Eco Cafeteria on the third floor, said she gets few customers. Since July, five tenants there have called it quits.

The 57-year-old, who signed a three-year contract in July, will be closing down her stall today. She owes more than $17,000 in rental arrears over the past five months.

Mr Xu Guo Chang, 33, who owns the economical rice stall next door, said he is losing $2,000 a month. To cut costs, he fired four of his workers in August. 'We are not getting what the building management promised us in terms of crowds. We feel cheated.'

It is the same story at Matrix Cafeteria downstairs, as well as for 13 other tenants The Straits Times spoke to yesterday.

The owner of an Indian food stall there, Madam Kumai Paramaswari, 43, has not paid a cent in rent since September. 'I am so angry. I took out all my pocket money to try to tide me over this period. Now, they are asking us to move out,' she said, adding that she spent $40,000 to renovate the stall when she moved in last June.

Florist Sylvia Koh, 58, who owns Puffin Flowers N Gifts on the second floor, has been losing $3,000 a month since opening in July.

Discussions are under way with Gammon, said Mr Jack Tan, executive director of Select Food Management. The company pays rent to the consortium and manages the two foodcourts. The other tenants pay rental directly to the consortium.

'We understand (the stallholders') difficulties and we have allowed some delays. But, we also need to pay our landlord,' said Mr Tan, 41, who added that nine stallholders who received letters have repaid some of their debt.

Gammon did not respond by press time.

An ITE spokesman said: 'The college has no influence in the commercial deals between the private operator and stallholders.' However, it has nonetheless conveyed its concerns to Gammon. 'It is envisaged that as the public becomes more aware of the new college and as more community events are organised there, patronage of outlets will improve eventually.'

limjess@sph.com.sg

WE EMPATHISE, BUT...

'We understand (the stallholders') difficulties and we have allowed some delays. But, we also need to pay our landlord... Everyone has to work together to see how we can survive.'

Mr Jack Tan, executive director of Select Food Management, which manages the two foodcourts

via : http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=86368

just open our eyes n look see look see. this is not uncommon in many food courts, kopitam etc.

how would it be sustainable? unless they are already breaking even with a 30-50% running capacity.

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

this ITE premise is a joke;being run by private enterprise (MOE outsourced). and you won't want to know how difficult the administrative works are when dealing with so many parties just for a simple thingy.

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what do you guys see or do in June 2011?

i see on the FB updates that some have been doing quite a bit of shopping. heh.

however, i notice quite a few other locations empty. perhaps not in the heart of town. but areas that i go pass is as so.

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read about what's happening to "The Verge".

touted as the next Sim Lim Square... and then this.

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was at white sands food court last week or so.

kopitam managed.

i counted 4 stalls not in operation. 3 vacant. 1 with all the pots n pans kept, and no sign of any food prep.
it was a sunday afternoon. 

one year on. that food court is now running with 4 vacant stalls.

from a friend in the trade, he mentioned that in these kopitam setups, only about 30% of the stalls are doing well. the rest will either just be able to maintain, or be forced to shut down. the only question is a matter of when.

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jin wols thot wtf happened to iLuma

via : http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=3490889

either it's in prep for a big re-vamp or things are getting worse there.

would this be the first of the ghost mall in Singapore? unlikely if going by the crowd at Bugis. but this iLuma is extremely puzzling. only thing i know know was that someone (same guy as Kallang Leisure plaza) paid 160 odd million mid 2000, then recently Capital mall brought it over at 300 over. (the same guys as behind J8, Plaza Sing, etc.)

what's going on?

Bugis street going to shift into iLuma?! as Bugis itself might be revamp herself?

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2012 May.

how's the retail scene getting along?

[Vorsprung durch Technik]

everbooming... suburbans are thriving.