Metro outlet at Compass Point to close down due to “challenging retail scene”

[h=1]Metro outlet at Compass Point to close down due to “challenging retail scene”[/h]admin / 21 hours ago June 19, 2015
Singapore’s Metro departmental store occupying the second level of Compass Point will be closing down after 12 years of operations at the Sengkang mall due to the “challenging retail scene”. The Metro Compass Point lease will be allowed to expire without a renewal in August and the mall has not found a new tenant yet.
Photo by Metro Compass Point

The construction boom ending in 2014 created an influx of new retail malls across Singapore, which left many shopping centres finding it increasingly difficult to fill empty retail spaces with tenants. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Singapore’s retail vacancy rate has been hovering around 6% for the whole of 2014.
Graph by URA

Retail shops in Singapore also face a manpower crunch because of the low salary range at S$1,500 and long working hours (8 hour work shift over 6 days) – working out to be S$7.81 per hour. Singapore employers are not able to pay well partly because retail space rental is still rising. Below is a screenshot of a typical retail job from JobsDB.com:
Screenshot from JobsDB

Due to the low pay and long working hours, Singapore retail employers are not able to hire Singaporeans. This contrasts greatly with the retail jobs in Sydney Australia, which is in high demand and very popular by even Australian citizens. Retail staffs are protected by the Minimum Wage law of a mandatory AUD$18.50 and a maximum working hours of 8 hour work shift over 5 days.

glory to Singapore with over built concrete jungles in past 50 years.

Run if you can

Due to the low pay and long working hours, Singapore retail employers are not able to hire Singaporeans. This contrasts greatly with the retail jobs in Sydney Australia, which is in high demand and very popular by even Australian citizens. Retail staffs are protected by the Minimum Wage law of a mandatory AUD$18.50 and a maximum working hours of 8 hour work shift over 5 days.

PAP-NTUC dogs: "Minimum wage will destroy the economy! Progressive Wage is so much better! We need to improve our productivity! Cheaper, Better, Faster!"

My opinion is that malls need to be freed from the stranglehold of the various big real estate companies (e.g. Mapletree, Capitaland), because that is commercial feudalism.

More and more shop closing down , very soon all investors also will run road because nobody can afford to give them business the whole economy will collapse like domino

Tuayapeh said:

More and more shop closing down , very soon all investors also will run road because nobody can afford to give them business the whole economy will collapse like domino

Click to expand...

That's actually a good thing. Singapore needs a hard reset, or a reformat.

instead of bitching about the occupancy rate why dont the stupid mall owners lower the rent?are they begging for something to be done?open the floodgates wide?

laksaboy said:

My opinion is that malls need to be freed from the stranglehold of the various big real estate companies (e.g. Mapletree, Capitaland), because that is commercial feudalism.

Click to expand...

REITs is sucking the blood out of all, retail operators and consumers alike.

khunking said:

Run if you can

Due to the low pay and long working hours, Singapore retail employers are not able to hire Singaporeans. This contrasts greatly with the retail jobs in Sydney Australia, which is in high demand and very popular by even Australian citizens. Retail staffs are protected by the Minimum Wage law of a mandatory AUD$18.50 and a maximum working hours of 8 hour work shift over 5 days.

Click to expand...

Pay the retail employee at $15/hour, you will see more Singaporean applying.
First and foremost, the rental is always the killer.

looks like LHL's school of economic policy is collapsing......

[video=youtube;LvdLovAaYzM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvdLovAaYzM[/video]

frenchbriefs said:

instead of bitching about the occupancy rate why dont the stupid mall owners lower the rent?are they begging for something to be done?open the floodgates wide?

Click to expand...

Hey, the REITs need to pay their dividends.

lifeafter41 said:

REITs is sucking the blood out of all, retail operators and consumers alike.

Click to expand...

the land ponzi has to start from somewhere.probably the government.just like the coe ponzi,cpf ponzi,hdb ponzi.

i mean before they even build the mall they already have to like pay 200 million or something for the land.

frenchbriefs said:

the land ponzi has to start from somewhere.probably the government.just like the coe ponzi,cpf ponzi,hdb ponzi.

i mean before they even build the mall they already have to like pay 200 million or something for the land.

Click to expand...

Yes, and the SLA is selling many new plots of land for condos etc. Many forests have been felled.

It must be making a killing.

laksaboy said:

That's actually a good thing. Singapore needs a hard reset, or a reformat.

Click to expand...

I prefer low level formatting, leaves no trace

zhihau said:

I prefer low level formatting, leaves no trace

Click to expand...

Best is to fdisk.com this farking country.

Unless you own the retail outlet, you will be a slave to the landlord throughout the tenure. Or you are part of an international retail chain (not talking about Kmart though) with deep pockets. Brick and mortar retail has been dying since the greedy big wigs monopolised shopping malls decades ago. Forget retail, use the power of the web to reach customers. Eg : Qoo10, Dealextreme, Amazon, etc

Do not worry, NTUC Supermarket will take over....

laksaboy said:

Yes, and the SLA is selling many new plots of land for condos etc. Many forests have been felled.

It must be making a killing.

Click to expand...

no wonder we are moving our water reservoirs underground,the monetisation of reclamation of land must go on!!!!when there no more room in hell to reclaim,the living(sinkies) will walk below the surface!!!

I prefer voting out all the "high level" "IT workers" including the "Chief Technical Officer".

zhihau said:

I prefer low level formatting, leaves no trace

Click to expand...

glockman said:

Unless you own the retail outlet...

Click to expand...

Very very sad states of affairs when you see neighborhood shops close down one by one. Even atas location like I12 also sama sama...