Serious Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes shop

[EnBloc]

Republic’s oldest department store is latest casualty of the onslaught from e-commerce.
BY
NEO CHAI CHIN
[email protected]

PUBLISHED: 6:35 PM, NOVEMBER 4, 2016
UPDATED: 1:16 AM, NOVEMBER 5, 2016

SINGAPORE — By January next year, John Little — said to be Singapore’s oldest department store — will close its last remaining outlet in Plaza Singapura, 174 years after it set up shop here.

Amid the onslaught from e-comerce, the Robinsons Group said in a statement on Friday (Nov 4) that the brand would evolve into a pop-up format, with more details to be announced next year. A pop-up format usually involves the opening of short-term sales spaces.

A tenant in Plaza Singapura since 2013, the store is holding a moving-out sale until it closes on Jan 2.

The decision to shut shop was made after "evaluating the relevancy and sustainability of the John Little brick-and-mortar business", the group said. "John Little will instead evolve as a brand into a pop-up format, which is in line with the global trend for retail businesses," it added.

Owned by the Al-Futtaim Group, which is headquartered in Dubai, the Robinsons Group manages Robinsons, John Little, as well as Marks and Spencer.

Previously, Al-Futtaim said that it would shut 10 loss-making stores this year as it restructured its Singapore operations. Last year, the closures included the Marks and Spencer at Centrepoint, John Little at Marina Square and Tiong Bahru Plaza, and some Royal Sporting House outlets.

The curtains-down for John Little at the Orchard Road mall is part of consolidation efforts to focus on businesses that are growing, and to re-channel resources to bring in new brands and shopping concepts, the Robinsons Group said.

Employees affected by the closure have been briefed and the company is in the midst of deploying them to other suitable businesses within the group.

John Little is named after storekeeper John Martin Little and had its beginnings in 1842, in what is now Raffles Place. Only 14 years ago in 2002, there were seven outlets here. Patrons remember the brand for its good selection of children’s products and clothing for more mature women.

http://www.todayonline.com/business/john-little-cease-operations-plaza-singapura

 

[johnny333]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

You can find John Little in Thailand.

Not surprising that they are abandoning Spore because of the increasing rentals & diminishing british customer base. Same thing happened to the Japanese stores like Yaohan, Tokyo,...

 

[frenchbriefs]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

just like Metro they are going the way dinosaurs and the dodo bird.these brands are going extinct because they remain stuck in the 80s and unevolved with the times.just like marks and spencers no sinkies wants to go around wearing $150 brown sweaters and english plaid trousers looking like some white middle class gentile kids that attend a boarding school in oxford or hogwarts and speak with queens english or R.P. recieved pronunciation or a flute playing bard from lord of the rings or english professor in cambridge.

same with john little,they do not understand the psyche and mentality of sinkie coolie and farmer peasants,aint no sinkie want that shit,they want stores like giant that sells all kind of cheap made in china,malaysia and thailand junk and snacks and cheap household appliances or $2 daiso shops where everything is $2.

 

[EnBloc]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

I am surprised they managed to hold out for so long - overpriced and out of touch with consumer trends

With rents so high, finally they are dead, can only afford pop-up

 

[SgGoneWrong]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

Good all these retails are dead, can build more condos.
Sinkies can shop online or overseas. Just live in sg to work and earn money.

 

[Reddog]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

You can find John Little in Thailand.

Not surprising that they are abandoning Spore because of the increasing rentals & diminishing british customer base. Same thing happened to the Japanese stores like Yaohan, Tokyo,...

Yaohan, Tokyu,... not Tokyo lah.

 

[Bigfuck]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

Singapore only fit for Daiso shopping hub.

 

[mojito]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

You can find John Little in Thailand.

Not surprising that they are abandoning Spore because of the increasing rentals & diminishing british customer base. Same thing happened to the Japanese stores like Yaohan, Tokyo,...

Singapore has growing population, highest gdp per capita but dunno why people seem to be broke? No money to buy nice things, always I see many people dressing shabbily like a hobo. Yet we got highest number of millionaires among us. Must be good values like thrift we learn from young.

 

[kezgtree]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

Singapore has growing population, highest gdp per capita but dunno why people seem to be broke? No money to buy nice things, always I see many people dressing shabbily like a hobo. Yet we got highest number of millionaires among us. Must be good values like thrift we learn from young.

...broke becoz everything has gone up..e.g..4 room back in the 80's below 80k...now 250k n depends on which area..there are some mature area commanding 400k +....does our pay went up 100,200 or 300 %...NO...we have been screwed..sighhhh

 

[johnny333]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

Yaohan, Tokyu,... not Tokyo lah.

I only remember Tokyo :o

Back then I didn't even know that it was a Japanese store & the only reason I visited their Funan branch was because I was looking at the IT stuff at Funan

 

[frenchbriefs]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

Singapore has growing population, highest gdp per capita but dunno why people seem to be broke? No money to buy nice things, always I see many people dressing shabbily like a hobo. Yet we got highest number of millionaires among us. Must be good values like thrift we learn from young.

GDP high but most of the profit and income goes to corporations.singapore real household disposable income only 1/3rd of GDP per cap.

Highest percentage of millionaires,but median networth of sinkies very low only 131k,indicating huge wealth disparity or large number of imported millionaires.

 

[johnny333]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

Singapore has growing population, highest gdp per capita but dunno why people seem to be broke? No money to buy nice things, always I see many people dressing shabbily like a hobo. Yet we got highest number of millionaires among us. Must be good values like thrift we learn from young.

I know many multi millionaires from the baby boomer generation & they prefer to spend their hard earned money in Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, ... for the quality of life. So you will find them commuting between Spore & elsewhere. The rich I know still live frugally. They don't stinge but you won't find them buying Lambos, Ferrari's, expensive handbages,... For the older generation I would say spending on health is more important.

I am not as rich but have enough $$ not to worry about work. In fact I stopped working 15+ years ago Never had a problem re-adjusting to a work free environment. Eventually I will follow their lead & spend more time out of Spore. Spore is getting too crowded with safety & security is becoming an issue.

 

[frenchbriefs]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

I know many multi millionaires from the baby boomer generation & they prefer to spend their hard earned money in Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, ... for the quality of life. So you will find them commuting between Spore & elsewhere. The rich I know still live frugally. They don't stinge but you won't find them buying Lambos, Ferrari's, expensive handbages,... For the older generation I would say spending on health is more important.

I am not as rich but have enough $$ not to worry about work. In fact I stopped working 15+ years ago Never had a problem re-adjusting to a work free environment. Eventually I will follow their lead & spend more time out of Spore. Spore is getting too crowded with safety & security is becoming an issue.

I saw in a movie or documentary once the millionaires in singapore are a different breed from the millionaires in say Hong Kong or other countries,millionaires in other countries attain their wealth thru aggressive means such as business or entrepreneurship.they tend to be of a younger age group in their their thirties or fourties.while sinkie millionaires are mostly salary men who accumulated their wealth slowly over the decades thru property appreciation and modest living,they tend to be older in their fifties and sixties.

 

[johnny333]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

I saw in a movie or documentary once the millionaires in singapore are a different breed from the millionaires in say Hong Kong or other countries,millionaires in other countries attain their wealth thru aggressive means such as business or entrepreneurship.they tend to be of a younger age group in their their thirties or fourties.while sinkie millionaires are mostly salary men who accumulated their wealth slowly over the decades thru property appreciation and modest living,they tend to be older in their fifties and sixties.

The millionaires that I know owned the land where their business stood. Some can tell you about how they were played out by the GLCs who misused their position to take over businesses. In the 60's & 70's there were many small factories in Spore & if you were fortunate enough to keep the land, you would today be well off.

However the PAP has been misusing the "land acquisition act" to steal land from Sporeans. This happened to my in-laws & they went to court but the outcome was as expected & they lost.

The PAP has never been shy about using the laws for their own ends. I was watching CNA & they had a documentary about Spore's past. They mentioned an Arab muslim named Aljunid. This is the person that Aljunid Road was name after. He was a rich land owner. When the PAP became the gov't they passed laws forbidding the collection of rents & that is why people like Aljunid had to sell their land. At least it was not aquired by the PAP.

 

[Justmythots]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

The millionaires that I know owned the land where their business stood. Some can tell you about how they were played out by the GLCs who misused their position to take over businesses. In the 60's & 70's there were many small factories in Spore & if you were fortunate enough to keep the land, you would today be well off.

However the PAP has been misusing the "land acquisition act" to steal land from Sporeans. This happened to my in-laws & they went to court but the outcome was as expected & they lost.

The PAP has never been shy about using the laws for their own ends. I was watching CNA & they had a documentary about Spore's past. They mentioned an Arab muslim named Aljunid. This is the person that Aljunid Road was name after. He was a rich land owner. When the PAP became the gov't they passed laws forbidding the collection of rents & that is why people like Aljunid had to sell their land. At least it was not aquired by the PAP.

When PAP acquires it, they will compensate at a low rate, not at prevailing market prices. In the 60s, more than 80% of all land were owned by the Chinese Towkays, the people. PAP under LCY began mass acquisition like the communist party to turn almost all land to state land like in communist countries. About five years ago, at Chinese New Year I visited someone's terrace house in Poh Huat Rd in Hougang, it's one of those houses that look identical to all the houses in the estate, clearly built by a developer. I was shocked when the owner told me it's a 99 year leasehold! Growing up in a Serangoon house my grandfather built, one of those individual built homes you see all over, we had never heard of landed property where you don't own the land! It's damn sad man. Really very sad. LOL. As if it's not bad enough that most peasants are stuffed in HDB and leasehold condos where they slave eternally for the landowner - the state, now PAP run pee sai even has leasehold landed its damn pathetic. It must be uniquely sinkie. Does anyone know where else leasehold landed is common? Damn sad.

I heard from friends that if you want to own a freehold landed home now, your only choice is to buy an existing old one like the one grandpa built and tear it down and rebuild. Most new landed are leasehold landed by developers.

 

[Justmythots]

Re: Old and useless British colonial leftover can't keep up with e-commerce, closes s

just like Metro they are going the way dinosaurs and the dodo bird.these brands are going extinct because they remain stuck in the 80s and unevolved with the times.just like marks and spencers no sinkies wants to go around wearing $150 brown sweaters and english plaid trousers looking like some white middle class gentile kids that attend a boarding school in oxford or hogwarts and speak with queens english or R.P. recieved pronunciation or a flute playing bard from lord of the rings or english professor in cambridge.

same with john little,they do not understand the psyche and mentality of sinkie coolie and farmer peasants,aint no sinkie want that shit,they want stores like giant that sells all kind of cheap made in china,malaysia and thailand junk and snacks and cheap household appliances or $2 daiso shops where everything is $2.

Those aesthetically ugly clothes you described of the Brits are also made in China and the fitting is bad, clowns who wear them invariably look like they ask for a whacking. Even Americans don't dress like that.