Over 75% of shops at Marina Bay Sands let

Chanel – the first tenant announced – will open two-floor, 7,600-sq-ft boutique

MORE than three quarters of the shops at the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) integrated resort have been let, the resort’s management said yesterday.

The US$4.5 billion resort, set to open next year, has about 300 shops and 800,000-plus square feet of retail and restaurant space. About 50 per cent of retail space will be up and running when the first phase of the project opens in early 2010, and 80 per cent of the retail space that will be open in this phase has already been let, MBS said yesterday.

It also said French fashion house Chanel will open a 7,600-sq-ft boutique in the Marina Bay Sands Shoppes – the first tenant announced.

‘We have secured commercial terms for over 75 per cent of Marina Bay Sands Shoppes,’ said David Sylvester, vice-president of retail for Asia at US-based Las Vegas Sands, which is developing the resort. ‘We have enjoyed enthusiastic responses from retail tenants all over the world. Part of our attraction is our prime location – Marina Bay Sands Shoppes will bring large-scale retail to Singapore’s central business district for the first time.’

Tenants will include a mix of international designer brands and emerging labels, Mr Sylvester said.

Chanel is excited to be part of the Marina Bay Sands concept, said Vincent Shaw, president of Chanel Asia-Pacific: ‘It is a great opportunity to join the ultimate house of luxury with a truly innovative and creative retail environment. Singapore has a young, progressive and energetic retail scene.’

The concept boutique, which will be spread over two floors, will be designed by New York-based architect Peter Marino, the man behind the black-and-white signature design of Chanel’s boutiques worldwide.

The MBS boutique will showcase Chanel’s ready-to-wear women’s clothing and footwear, and accessories such as bags, eyewear, costume jewellery and fragrance and beauty products.

Source: Business Times, 20 Aug 2009

Retailers around new store feeling the heat

Less than a month since Ion’s opening, retailers in the surrounding area are feeling the heat.

Chain store U.R.S. & Inc used to sell up to 100 pairs of shoes a week at its Ngee Ann City outlet, but these days, it only manages an average of 40.

‘Our sales have definitely been affected quite a bit especially at this branch because it is closest to Ion,’ said its operations manager Richard Goh. The homegrown shoe label has 10 outlets.

Out of 20 department stores and retailers surveyed by The Sunday Times, 14 said they have seen a drop in customer traffic and sales.

At Tangs Orchard, which is linked to Orchard MRT Station by an underpass, shopper traffic has dipped by 10 per cent.

‘Naturally, there has been a drop in numbers into our store, especially from our basement entrance, because of the new Ion Orchard,’ said Ms Lin Pei Hua, assistant vice-president of marketing and communications.

But two weekends of promotions and a celebrity appearance by Malaysian actress-singer Lee Sinjie have kept sales up, she said.

Orchard Road Business Association chairman Sng Ngoi May said an initial dip is expected, due to the novelty of a new mall and also Ion’s prime location above Orchard MRT Station.

While Wisma Atria and Wheelock Place, both connected to Ion by underpasses, have seen a surge in shopper traffic, that has not necessarily translated into better sales for their shops.

Wisma said shopper traffic went up by 60 per cent in June and last month after a basement linkway to the train station reopened and Ion was launched on July 21.

Still, some retailers at Wisma said sales dipped by between 10 and 50 per cent in Ion’s first week.

Over at Wheelock, a new underpass that links to Ion and the closure of a street-level pedestrian crossing at Paterson Road have also brought in the crowds. But retailers say many shoppers are merely entering the mall to get to Ion.

‘Business will definitely be affected to a certain extent by the hype and excitement surrounding the new malls,’ said a spokesman for Japanese eatery Sakae Sushi, who would only say that there was a slight impact on its business but declined to give numbers.

Even those farther down the road from Ion have not been spared.

Mr Ben Lee, marketing brand strategist for clothing company New Urban Male, said sales at its Heeren shops plunged 40 per cent in the first week Ion opened.

The brand also has a concept store in Ion, which he says is ‘meeting our target, but people are checking out the mall more than they are seriously shopping’.

Despite retailers’ worries, Mrs Sng said it is too early to assess Ion’s impact on other malls.

Retail consultant Lynda Wee said that with the opening of new malls like Ion, Orchard Central and 313@Somerset, Orchard Road will become the shopping street of Asia.

‘We have an entire street of malls that are integrated and stand side by side; something Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and even Hong Kong do not have,’ she said.

She expects the street to bring an influx of tourists, who will shop at not only the new malls but also the older ones.

‘But the older malls need to revamp and reinvent themselves. Shoppers will skip them if they look tired and dated,’ she added.

Source: Sunday Times, 16 Aug 2009

Two malls near Ion Orchard raise parking fees

When Mr Leonard Wee drove out of Wheelock Place’s carpark two Sundays ago after two hours, he was shocked to find $8 deducted from his Cashcard.

The IT specialist, 32, who was there for lunch with his family, had missed a signboard stating the carpark’s new charges.

He never had to pay more than $4 before.

‘The difference is huge and I was caught off guard. Perhaps next time, we’ll eat outside the city area,’ he said.

The problem, it seems, is the new Ion Orchard, which has been drawing crowds – and cars.

A Sunday Times check with six malls surrounding the new Ion Orchard showed that two have jacked up their parking fees this month.

Since Aug 1, Wheelock Place has increased its per-entry rate after 6pm from $4 to $4.50. It also implemented a $1 surcharge per car during lunchtime on weekdays.

On weekends, motorists will now have to pay weekday rates instead of a per-entry fee.

Parking for four hours on a Sunday now costs $12 instead of $4 – a 200 per cent increase.

Shaw Centre across from Wheelock raised its per-entry rate from $2.14 to $3.50 on Aug 7 to ‘keep in line’ with buildings in the vicinity, said its spokesman.

Wheelock’s management said that it did so to manage the increased traffic.

Tenants and shoppers have been unable to gain entry because the carpark is often full, and they have caused jams along Angullia Park which have spilled onto Orchard Road.

A spokesman for Wheelock Place would not say if the increased traffic flow was due to Ion’s opening. But she said demand for parking space in the vicinity is expected with the new malls and revamp of the shopping belt.

When Ion first opened its doors last month, it drew hordes of curious Singaporeans.

Motorists griped about long queues in and out of its carpark, with some having to wait 30 minutes before they could enter.

The situation compounds the gridlock along Orchard Turn, which serves Ion, Wisma Atria and Ngee Ann City. Traffic is still heavy during peak hours.

The other four malls – Ngee Ann City, Wisma Atria, Paragon and Tang Plaza – say they have no plans to increase their rates for now.

Their parking rates range from $2.14 to $3 per hour.

The last time parking charges at most carparks in the Orchard area were adjusted was in 2007, when the goods and services tax was increased to 7 per cent from 5 per cent. Many increased their parking fees by between 10 and 20 per cent.

The hike in parking rates has made sales manager Josephine Wong resort to taking the train whenever she has to meet a client in town.

‘It’s tiring to drive in a jam, fight for a lot and then pay a huge bill for parking,’ said Ms Wong, 28, who pays less than $1.50 for her train trips each time.

‘Public transport is really the cheapest and easiest way.’

————————————————————
CARPARK CHARGES IN AND AROUND ION

Ion Orchard
Weekdays:
First hour: $3
Subsequent 15 minutes: 70 cents
After 5pm: $4.50 per entry

Saturday:
Same as weekdays

Sunday:
First two hours: $3.50
Subsequent 15 minutes: 70 cents
After 5pm: $4.50 per entry

Ngee Ann City
Weekdays:
Every half-hour: $1.28
After 6pm: $4.28 per entry

Saturday and Sunday:
First hour: $2.57
Subsequent half-hour: $1.61
After 6pm: $4.28 per entry

Paragon
Weekdays:
First hour: $2.25
Subsequent half-hour: $1.34
After 6pm: $3.37 per entry
Noon to 2.30pm: $1.07 surcharge

Saturday:
Same as weekdays

Sunday:
First four hours: $3.37
Subsequent 15 minutes: 70 cents

Shaw Centre
Weekdays:
First hour: $1.07
Subsequent half-hour: $1.07
After 6pm: $3.50 per entry

Saturday:
Same as weekdays

Sunday:
$3.50 per entry

Tangs Plaza
Weekdays:
Per minute: five cents

Saturday and Sunday:
Same as weekdays

Wheelock Place
Weekdays:
First hour: $3
Subsequent half-hour: $1.50
After 6pm: $4.50 per entry
Noon to 2.30pm: $1.07 surcharge

Saturday and Sunday:
Same as weekdays

Wisma Atria
Weekdays:
First two hours: $2.30
Subsequent half-hour: $1.10
After 5pm: $3.50 per entry

Saturday:
Same as weekdays

Sunday:
First two hours: $3.50
Subsequent half-hour: 80 cents

Source: Sunday Times, 16 Aug 2009

More lights up at Iluma

New Bugis mall is 90% leased and is seeing more shoppers

ILUMA may not have opened its doors with a bang, but it has been working to fill space and draw crowds since. The new mall in Victoria Street is now 90 per cent occupied and more shoppers are making their way there, says its management.

Traffic has ‘definitely improved’ in the past few months, says Han Minli, business development director at Jack Investment, which owns and manages Iluma.

Iluma entered the mall scene in March as Filmgarde Cineplex began operations. Retailers gradually opened for business in the following months. But what seemed to stand out in the mall’s early days was empty space and a lack of crowds, going by reports.

Jack Investment is counting on the situation to improve as more tenants strut their stuff. ‘I think we will really see the surge in (shopper) numbers when the mall is fully ready. That will probably be the end of the year,’ says Ms Han.

Importantly, Iluma’s anchor tenants have started operations. Wah Lian Amusement Company has invested $12 million in its flagship project Tornado, an entertainment centre comprising a cyber-gaming joint, dance club, arcades and restaurants. And K Box Entertainment Group has launched K Suites, an upmarket version of the popular karaoke chain K Box.

So far, 10 per cent of space at Iluma – concentrated on the first and second floors – is left.

There was opportunity to fill it but Jack Investment is waiting for the ‘right’ tenants to come, Ms Han says. Rents at the mall range from the ‘high-tens’ to ‘forty-ish’ dollars per square feet.

The mall is looking for unique retailers – many of those already in business are start-ups and may have made their first foray into a commercial shopping centre, she adds. ‘We are being a little bit more experimental.’

Besides having more tenants, the completion of a link bridge from Bugis Junction at the end of the year may drive more shoppers to Iluma, says Ms Han. There will also be retail space on the 53-metre bridge, with a net rentable area of around 3,800 sq ft.

Around 60 per cent of the space has been taken up by retailers such as comic and accessory shops, and rents there range from the mid-$20s to around $50 psf.

Singapore’s retail scene has become more interesting of late with the entrance of more new malls. Besides Iluma, Orchard Central and Ion Orchard have opened, even as the economy contracts and visitor numbers fall.

Iluma is taking the competition in its stride, explains Ms Han. ‘The key opportunity for us is that we are not in a very densely populated shopping belt with a lot of new competition. So that allows us to create our own niche.’

She also notes that the Bugis area has a ’sizeable’ population of students, working executives and visitors to nearby museums.

Iluma has a crystal mesh media facade touted as one of the world’s biggest permanent media facades. It can be used as a canvas for advertisements or for media artists to exhibit their works. The mall will be showcasing the facade’s technical capabilities at a lighting preview today.

Source: Business Times, 15 Aug 2009

Tekka Centre reopens

After a 14-month facelift costing $10 million, it is pulling in the crowds

The couple have been regular visitors for more than 20 years and they made sure they turned up yesterday for the reopening of Tekka Centre.

‘The lighting is better and there are covered walkways to provide shelter from the rain,’ said Mr Zulkepli Md Kassim, a senior draftsman who came to buy groceries with his wife.

Tekka Centre at Block 665, Buffalo Road, had undergone a 14-month facelift costing $10 million.

When The Sunday Times turned up at 11am, the wet market was a hive of activity while half the cooked-food stalls were still shuttered.

‘Business has been quite good, with a lot of my regular customers returning,’ said Mr Roger Ong, owner of a poultry meat stall.

‘The stall positions now are also similar to the old market’s, so it’s easy for them to find us. The passageways are wider and the place is also cleaner.’

Mr Ong, 40, pays less than $100 a month in rent.

He and other stallowners had relocated to nearby temporary premises while the centre was upgraded.

Other customers interviewed also noted that the place is more spacious and well-ventilated.

However, the reopening has not been entirely glitch-free.

The escalators leading to the stalls upstairs, which sell items like clothing and antiques, were not yet in operation by noon.

There was a large pile of rubbish at the loading bay near the wet market. And there were complaints of a foul smell from an unoccupied stall.

‘Some of the hawkers told me they were surprised the health inspectors didn’t notice anything when they came earlier today,’ said a stall owner who declined to give his name.

‘They think that the smell of decay is caused by drainage problems and an unused freezer brought over from the old market.’

Several tenants note that their stalls are slightly smaller. ‘There are fewer tables outside my stall now, and the guidelines about leaving goods outside our stall are very strict,’ grumbled the owner of a fruit juice stall who also declined to give his name.

Source: Sunday Times, 1 Aug 2009

Malls in a jam

While parking woes upset shoppers, developers say much thought goes into traffic and carpark design

Many Singaporeans are all too happy to join a queue, be it for food, flats or freebies.

One queue they unanimously hate, though, is the ubiquitous one waiting to enter or exit the carpark of popular malls.

The latest shopping centre to suffer from traffic problems is Ion Orchard, which opened two weeks ago.

The first couple of days, motorists griped about the nightmare of getting in and out of its multi-storey carpark.

Some motorists had to wait up to 30 minutes to enter.

The situation compounds the gridlock along Orchard Turn, which serves Ion Orchard, Wisma Atria as well as Ngee Ann City.

It does not help that taxis exiting Ion Orchard into Orchard Turn have to contend with incoming traffic from the side of Wisma Atria on the left as well as motorists entering from Orchard Boulevard on the right, creating a bottleneck.

The situation is made worse by motorists exiting Ion Orchard’s carpark into Orchard Turn.

Ion Orchard is not the only new mall to experience motoring woes.

When suburban shopping centre Tampines 1 opened in April, shoppers complained about having to wait 45 minutes before they could park their cars because there were not enough carpark lots – the mall has only 203 lots.

Frustrated shopper Leanne Wee, 26, who drives, says: ‘It appears that malls don’t give much thought to parking and traffic problems.’

Indeed, when it comes to designing a shopping mall, it appears as if carparks and their accessibility are an afterthought.

Architect John Ting, a former president of the Singapore Institute of Architects, says that retail space and the flow of the internal space in the mall is usually a primary concern.

‘Carparks are usually the last thing to consider and only because mall developers are required by the authorities to include them,’ he says.

But mall developers and their architects say this is not so.

Mr Simon Chua, divisional director at Benoy, the architectural firm that designed Ion Orchard, says: ‘Traffic and circulation are key factors in retail planning.’

Benoy’s director, Mr David Buffonge, the architect who led the design team for Ion Orchard, says that when planning a carpark ‘it is important to always think of the customer’.

He adds that ensuring that the carpark is easy to find, has simple colour coding, clear sight lines and good visibility to the lift and escalator lobbies were some of the things that the firm considered in its design for Ion Orchard’s carpark.

Mr Chua points out that the Ion Orchard site was a challenge as Orchard MRT station is underneath it and ‘only Orchard Boulevard was best for carparking access and the Orchard Road side was for pedestrians’.

Such long carpark queues are found not only at new malls. Even older ones such as Ngee Ann City, VivoCity and Plaza Singapura are plagued by them.

Freelance public relations consultant May Gwee, 38, who goes to Ngee Ann City at least once a month, has been caught in many a jam there.

Suburban malls are not spared the problem, either.

Housewife Lynn Lee, 38, was once stuck in the carpark of IMM in Jurong East for 30 minutes. When the cars on the way out had filled up the exit ramp all the way down and out of the building, others like hers that were just entering the carpark ended up joining the exit queue.

‘There were just too many cars, beyond the capacity of the carpark,’ she says. IMM has 1,313 lots.
VivoCity’s general manager, Mr Chang Yeng Cheong, says one of the key considerations when planning the mall was the carpark design and servicing points.

‘It was definitely not an afterthought as we view the carpark as an integral part of the overall mall experience when shopping at VivoCity,’ he says.

Art of carpark planning

He adds that because there is only one main road, Telok Blangah Road, serving the area, the mall had initially planned for three entrances and exits into and out of the mall, at Telok Blangah Road, HarbourFront Walk and Sentosa Gateway.

The Sentosa Gateway carpark entrance has since been closed as the area was acquired by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to facilitate the road expansion works along Sentosa Gateway and Gateway Avenue.

Mr Chang says that the mall also had to consider other external restrictions such as the bus bay, maintaining safe distances from traffic junctions and traffic contributed by the Cruise Centre nearby. ‘To achieve better traffic flow, we separated the carpark entry and exit points from those of the taxi and servicing,’ he says.

LTA says it works closely with malls on traffic situations even before they are built. During the planning stage of a development, it works with each developer to ensure that the traffic needs of both the development users and the surrounding users are catered for.

These include assessing the traffic impact of the development on the surroundings and its arrangement of access points, pick-up/drop-off bays or driveways for cars and taxis, says an LTA spokesman.

Where necessary, the developers will also be required to bear the cost of making improvements to and widening the roads and junctions surrounding the mall.

LTA continues to monitor the traffic situation when the development is completed. Should the need arise, the spokesman adds, ‘LTA works with the traffic police and the building management to implement improvement measures to smoothen out localised issues, such as long queues outside carparks’.

Malls are also doing their bit to ease carpark jams, even if they are done only on an ad-hoc basis and are not long-term solutions. For instance, during peak periods, Ion Orchard and Plaza Singapura deploy traffic controllers.

Mr Chang says VivoCity has been ‘actively monitoring the situation and has been working with LTA on several ongoing project works to improve the road and traffic conditions along Telok Blangah Road and Sentosa Gateway’.

The mall gets especially congested on weekends. While a queue of cars along Telok Blangah Road wait to enter the carpark, taxis entering the mall and buses stopping at bus-stops along the same road make the situation worse.

Mr Chang adds that the mall will have a ‘parking guidance system’ before year-end. Electronic boards will indicate real-time information on parking spaces available in the various carparks within the HarbourFront Precinct, including VivoCity, HarbourFront Centre, Sentosa and Resorts World.

‘This will help to reduce circulating traffic and facilitate drivers in finding available carpark lots more efficiently,’ he says.

Another popular mall with parking woes is the 25-year-old Parkway Parade. Ms Michelle Lee, marketing and communications manager of Lend Lease, which manages the mall, says that as Parkway Parade is the oldest suburban shopping mall, it faces constraints on improving the old design.

‘We provide a shuttle service to and from nearby MRT stations not only to ease the traffic flow but also to encourage visitors to utilise public transport to the centre,’ she says.

Despite what malls do to cater to their shoppers’ driving needs and the best efforts of LTA and architects, at least one shopper is not convinced they are enough. ‘There will still be a jam especially during the festive period,’ says housewife Tan Yi Ling, 45. She now takes public transport when she goes shopping.

Source: Straits Times, 1 Aug 2009

313@Somerset offers free service training to tenants

ABOUT 1,000 people, including retail staff from the shops at 313@Somerset, will become the first to receive service training at a centre set up by the mall’s landlord.

The free training will take place at the $1 million centre in the mall itself – a facility jointly funded by Australia-based landlord Lend Lease Retail and enterprise agency Spring Singapore.

The first batch of 40 trainees will begin class on Monday at the centre’s temporary home in Lend Lease Retail’s office in Faber House. The trainees are employees of the mall’s tenants, those working for the mall and a few members of the public.

More than 120 tenants have pledged to send their staff for training.

They will be taught about maintaining a professional image, business etiquette and how to interact with customers.

Lend Lease estimates the centre will save the industry $3 million per year, based on the assumption that an employer spends an average of $3,000 per employee in training costs and loss of the employee during training, excluding government subsidies.

The training centre, launched yesterday by Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean, will also offer free lessons in retail to interested parties. Registration for these courses is to be done online at www.313somerset-training.com.sg

Retail jobs are also listed there.

Ms May Sng, who heads the Orchard Road Business Association, hailed the centre as a ‘magnanimous’ gesture.

‘One of my wishes is that Orchard Road service will increase to the level of Hong Kong and Tokyo. We are far from reaching that. So to have this facility sited on Orchard Road goes beyond expectations,’ she said.

313@Somerset has filled up over 90 per cent of its space. Lend Lease’s development director Mike Kenderes is confident that all its shop spaces would be taken up by its opening date in November.

Source: Straits Times, 28 July 2009

Centre to help mall set service benchmark

313@Somerset to provide free training to employees of its retailers at new centre to raise service levels

SERVICE levels in Singapore are set to reach new heights as Lend Lease launched its $1 million 313@Somerset Training and Career Centre yesterday. The training centre was officially opened by Simon Crean, the Australian Minister for Trade, and will provide free service training to all employees of its retailers, its own mall staff and even members of the public who wish to pursue a career in the retail industry.

‘The is an excellent example of commercial collaboration between Australia and Singapore. The substantial investment by Lend Lease in the 313@Somerset Retail Mall and the new Training Centre reaffirmed the importance of Singapore as Australia’s largest trade and investment partner in Asean,’ said Mr Crean.

This is the first time a mall in Singapore has received the Singapore Workforce Development Agency’s Accredited Training Organisation (ATO) status, allowing it to conduct training.

The centre is also a first for Lend Lease globally and is expected to redefine standards for its malls around the world. The courses offered are funded by Lend Lease and Spring Singapore.
Since the announcement of the new training centre last year, response has been ‘extremely enthusiastic, with more than 120 of the mall’s retailers intending to put their employees through the courses,’ said Lend Lease development director Michael Kenderes.

A total of 1,000 are expected to be trained in the centre’s first year. Three hundred of them are expected to be matched to the employment needs of 313@Somerset retailers.

For a start, the centre will offer courses to help retail staff gain a clear understanding of the retail environment, the importance of retail service excellence, business etiquette and how to interact with customers.

The first two classes which commence on Aug 3 are already full.

It will also offer other courses that are not accredited and this will focus on retail tourism, centre brand induction and the 313 service factor.

These opportunities for training have been extended to retailers and staff in other Lend Lease malls, including Parkway Parade and PoMo. The centre will also help with job matching for those seeking employment within the centre.

The Training and Career Centre is expected to ‘save the retail industry some $3million in training and hiring costs, and downtime when a staff member goes for training’, said Mr Kenderes.

Source: Business Times, 28 July 2009

60% of Nex mall at Serangoon Central leased out

SINGAPORE: The upcoming suburban mall Nex located at Serangoon Central has leased 60 per cent of its lettable space.

Its developer Gold Ridge said retailers like Isetan, Courts and Challenger are among its key tenants.

Gold Ridge added that Isetan has secured a 53,000-square foot space, spanning three floors. This will be Isetan’s first new department store in Singapore since 1995.

Another first, the developer said supermarket chains Cold Storage and Fairprice Xtra will be housed together under the same roof.

The six-storey mall will also have a wide variety of F&B and entertainment options.

To be developed at a cost of S$1.3 billion, Nex will be ready by the end of next year.

Source: Channel News Asia, 23 July 2009

60% of Nex mall at Serangoon Central leased out

SINGAPORE: The upcoming suburban mall Nex located at Serangoon Central has leased 60 per cent of its lettable space.

Its developer Gold Ridge said retailers like Isetan, Courts and Challenger are among its key tenants.

Gold Ridge added that Isetan has secured a 53,000-square foot space, spanning three floors. This will be Isetan’s first new department store in Singapore since 1995.

Another first, the developer said supermarket chains Cold Storage and Fairprice Xtra will be housed together under the same roof.

The six-storey mall will also have a wide variety of F&B and entertainment options.

To be developed at a cost of S$1.3 billion, Nex will be ready by the end of next year.

Source: Channel News Asia, 23 July 2009