Rent is killing Singapore

[k1976]

Many people like REIT good return mah

 

[iluvgst]

Biggest landlord is pap. Why donch the same retards who voted them quit complaining.

 

[True Believer]

Peepur is PHD de woh

Permanent Head Damage is causing Amy Khor to cook without any fire.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Why should we bear the burden of budget meals and app discounts, some hawkers ask​

Hawkers at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre are expected to offer app discounts and budget meals.

Aug 20, 2025

SINGAPORE – When Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre’s management announced it would scrap clauses requiring hawkers to provide free meals for the needy at their own cost, the update was met with relief by hawkers. But many question why they continue to be called upon to provide budget meals and discounts to diners who pay using operator apps.

The Pay-it-Forward initiative by Canopy Hawkers Group, which manages the Socially-conscious Enterprise Hawker Centre (SEHC), initially required stallholders to contribute 100 free meals over three years.

It was criticised by veteran food critic K.F. Seetoh in an Aug 8 Facebook post that described it as “forced charity”. Health Minister Ong Ye Kung – who oversees the ward where the hawker centre is located – waded into the debate on Aug 11, writing on Facebook that hawkers did not face penalties if they did not provide the meals.

However, copies of the contract shown to the media, including The Straits Times, indicated that hawkers could chalk up demerit points for failing to provide the meals. The management team later said on Aug 15 that it would not enforce the obligation in the future.

“Some stalls are not doing well, so it’s better not to force them,” says John (not his real name), a hawker in his 50s, who runs one of the 44 stalls there. Like many of the tenants ST spoke to, he declined to reveal his name for fear of repercussions from his operator.

Another hawker, who is also in his 50s, adds: “Doing charity is voluntary, not by force.”

But many hawkers lament that they are still obliged to provide budget meals under $3.50 and pay for discounts given to diners using operator apps.

A 2022 version of the contract seen by The Straits Times states that hawkers could face three demerit points and $30 in liquidated damages for “failure to use Bukit Canberra HC mobile apps for customers to place orders, make payment”.

Hawkers say the app was intended for the convenience of customers and should be a value-added service by the operator.


“Its cost should not be passed on to the tenants,” says John, who has to absorb the 10 per cent discount customers get from the Food Canopy app. “Hawker prices are controlled and many have thin margins due to rising costs. This just makes things harder.”

In response to ST’s queries, Canopy Hawkers Group says the loyalty programme, which provides a 10 per cent rebate for customers paying through its app, is meant to encourage repeat customers and support hawkers’ business.

A similar arrangement has been rolled out at hawker centres run by FairPrice Group and Timbre Group.

Customers who pay using the app enjoy a 10 per cent discount on meals at One Punggol Hawker Centre and Yishun Park Hawker Centre, according to Timbre Group’s website.

“We lose a thousand dollars every month from the Timbre app,” says a 42-year-old who wanted to be known only as Rahman. He sells rojak and prata at One Punggol. However, he concedes that it was something he had agreed to when signing the contract.

Mr Yasser Farag, who runs Arabica Kebab stall in the same centre, was also prepared to offer concessions to customers, though the number of discounts caught him by surprise.


“I knew I had to keep prices low, but I didn’t expect so many people to have the app,” says the 58-year-old, who maintains that his experience at the hawker centre has otherwise been smooth.

Another hawker, who is in her late 50s, says prevalent usage of the app costs her around a thousand dollars each month. With the price of ingredients and utilities rising, her earnings have been shaved by a fifth. “I can’t afford to raise prices either, because I empathise with customers,” she adds.

Echoing the same sentiment is Ms Kumiko Tan, 44, owner of Hakka Leipopo, a chain with outlets in SEHCs, such as Anchorvale Village Hawker Centre and Punggol Coast Hawker Centre, both run by FairPrice Group.

“Times are hard for everyone. We won’t change the price of food to account for the discount,” she says. The cost of her dishes remains consistent across all outlets, even the one at the Tanjong Pagar Town Council-run Bukit Merah View Market & Hawker Centre.

Roughly 80 per cent of her customers at Anchorvale Village and Punggol Coast pay with the FairPrice Group app, which yields a 10 per cent discount. She adds: “I don’t think many of them know that the discount is paid for by the store owner. They think maybe it’s from the Government or the operator.”

Discounts offered through FairPrice Group app on display at Anchorvale Village Hawker Centre.

ST PHOTO: CHERIE LOK

But some hawkers, like a 38-year-old man operating a stall at Anchorvale Village Hawker Centre, feel the 10 per cent cut is fair, as the app helps boost business. “It’s a perk that, in a way, attracts customers,” he says.

The discount, however, cannot be applied to budget meals, which are low-cost dishes that tenants at SEHCs are obliged to offer – contractually, in the case of Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre’s tenants, at least.

At hawker centres operated by FairPrice Group, these affordable options are usually priced between $3 and $3.50, according to checks by ST.

Adam (not his real name), a hawker who runs a stall at Hawker Centre @ Our Tampines Hub, says that $3.50 is a manageable price point for budget meals. When

ST spoke to him in June 2024, his budget meals were fixed at $2.80.

Back then, a spokesperson for operator FairPrice Group confirmed budget meals at that particular hawker centre cost $2.80, but that the company was conducting a review.

Since the budget meal price has increased to $3.50, Adam says it is “much more reasonable”. “At least now, I can make around 20 to 30 cents in profit for each meal,” he adds. He previously told ST it was “impossible to make a profit” from $2.80 meals.

“I can’t make money off of it, but maybe only five to 10 people each month buy my budget meals, so still can tahan (endure in Malay),” adds a 45-year-old hawker, who wants to be known only as Hasan, at Buangkok Hawker Centre.

But Penang Alley’s $3.20 budget meals are snapped up by some 50 customers each month. Mrs Eileen Leong, the 57-year-old owner of the Buangkok Hawker Centre stall, says such meals, which consist of mainly eggs and kway teow, are “unsustainable”.

She tried asking her operator, Fei Siong Social Enterprise, to increase the budget meal price to $4 without success. With operation costs spiking 50 per cent and footfall down three-quarters by her estimates, she is seeking a reprieve.

In response to queries from ST, the National Environment Agency (NEA) reiterated what then-Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon said in a November 2024 parliamentary address: Such value meals only account for 5 to 20 per cent of meals sold in SEHCs.

Portions, according to hawkers, tend to be smaller and often omit more expensive proteins such as meat.

“Hawkers are not expected to make a loss selling value meals as they would have taken into the consideration of its impact in their rentals when applying for the stalls. Moreover, SEHC operators can propose to revise the price of such value meals options, which NEA will review based on the market situation and stallholders’ ability to make a fair livelihood,” said NEA’s spokesperson, citing the case of Ci Yuan Hawker Centre in Hougang, where the price was reviewed and adjusted based on feedback from operators and hawkers.

Canopy Hawkers Group, likewise, adds that food prices are adjusted from time to time, in discussion with tenants.

According to NEA, in 2023, the median monthly stall rental at SEHCs and non-subsidised stalls at comparable NEA-managed hawker centres were $1,700 and $1,625 respectively. Ancillary costs at SEHCs, such as table-cleaning and centralised dishwashing fees, are comparable with similar NEA-managed hawker centres, it added.

The agency also assists hawkers financially through schemes such as the Hawkers’ Productivity Grant, which provides 80 per cent co-funding for hawkers to buy kitchen automation equipment and digital solutions such as queue management systems.

ST has contacted the relevant operators for more information. Timbre Group declined to comment, while FairPrice Group and Fei Siong Social Enterprise did not respond by press time.

 

[Rabbit7]

Ish a perpetual self feeding loop for Huat Huat property machine
which results incumbant Singkies to do the following,

1. the capable migrate out of SG
2. the lesser able'd, move to lower-cost neighbourhood countries
3.the lower rungs remain, and gets frustrated for Life.

Yes / No ?

Singapore's Survival depends on a constant in-flow of International Talents,
there is no real space for sentimental

However the Powers above Pretends otherwise.

Is this the case also in other developed countries ?

 

[Boonsiong]

Nice

 

[Robert Half]

These landlords are going to be the biggest losers in the end as the locals now will not anyhow spend their money in the shopping malls, restaurants & cinemas so their tenants collapsed

 

[True Believer]

These landlords are going to be the biggest losers in the end as the locals now will not anyhow spend their money in the shopping malls, restaurants & cinemas so their tenants collapsed

I am rubbing my hands in glee as I notice more empty shop units in ghost town malls as well as vacant stalls in coffeeshops. Landlords who overpaid for these kopitiams are now sweating.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Timbre Group defends app discount, gross turnover rental model and hawker centre management practices​

Timbre said Yishun Park Hawker Centre operates under a gross turnover rental model where payable rent varies according to hawker earnings.

Aug 27, 2025

SINGAPORE – Timbre Group says the 10 per cent discount offered to customers who pay via its app encourages repeat customers to Yishun Park Hawker Centre, which eventually helps hawkers generate more business.

The operator, which runs two socially-conscious enterprise hawker centres (SEHCs) – One Punggol Hawker Centre and Yishun Park Hawker Centre – responded to recent criticism of its hawker centre management by food critic K.F. Seetoh in a press statement on Aug 26.

Last week, The Straits Times reported that hawkers in some SEHCs, including those run by Timbre Group and FairPrice Group, had to absorb the 10 per cent discount offered to diners paying via operator apps.

Timbre initially declined to comment, but said in its statement that the 10 per cent loyalty discount for app payments has been in place since 2017. The full cost of developing and maintaining the app is borne by the company, its spokesperson added.

It also addressed other claims made by Mr Seetoh in an Aug 23 Facebook post. The food industry veteran charged that Timbre takes “15 per cent of total sales from successful hawkers, otherwise they pay basic rents and all sorts of fees”, attaching a photo of a contract as evidence.

In response, Timbre’s spokesperson said the 43-stall Yishun Park Hawker Centre operates under a gross turnover rental model where payable rent varies according to hawker earnings.

Hawkers are charged either the base rent of $1,750 a month or 15 per cent of gross sales calculated monthly, whichever is higher.

How it works in practice: If 15 per cent of sales works out to $1,800, which is higher than the base rent of $1,750, the rent payable is $1,800. But if 15 per cent falls below the base rent, the tenant pays $1,750.

“This better shares the risks and rewards between the operator and the hawker. When earnings are low, a hawker pays lower rent. When earnings are good, the rent payable is higher,” Timbre said, adding that the maximum payable rent is capped at $2,550 a month.

“For some of our popular stalls, the effective rent relative to their turnover is therefore significantly lower than 15 per cent of their revenue.”

In a written parliamentary reply in February, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment said the median stall rent of the 12 SEHCs in operation was $1,700. For non-subsidised cooked food stalls in hawker centres managed by the National Environment Agency (NEA), the median rent has remained relatively stable at around $1,250 between 2015 and 2023.

When asked to comment on Timbre’s clarification on Aug 27, Mr Seetoh said: “No one should apply a commercial foodcourt operation model to our hawker centres – that is, the gross turnover model. Our hawker centres are built for community and affordability, like food community centres. There must be a big rethink of our operator guidelines.”

According to Timbre, the rent goes towards the operating revenue of the centre, and 50 per cent of the centre’s operating surplus is used to support stallholders through regular community programmes, as well as marketing campaigns aimed at boosting footfall.

Gas prices​

Mr Seetoh also questioned why Timbre did not use a cheaper gas provider, despite suggestions from hawkers.

In 2024, all but two stallholders signed a Nov 25 open letter to the management, expressing “deep concerns regarding the exorbitant gas prices we have been burdened with for the past seven years”.

“At $14-15 per unit (cubic metre), these costs have been unreasonably high and unsustainable for small businesses like ours,” they wrote.

They claimed that despite multiple requests to introduce alternative gas suppliers with more economical rates below $10 a unit, which would have saved them 33 per cent in gas costs, “no actionable progress” was made.

Earlier in 2025, Timbre extended a $1 a cubic metre discount to all hawkers. It maintains that Yishun Park Hawker Centre’s gas supply is “provided centrally and secured through competitive procurement”.

Stallholders currently pay $14 a cubic metre for gas at the hawker centre.

Hawkers at Yishun Park Hawker Centre have called for lower gas prices.

PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

CCTV cameras​

In addition, Mr Seetoh claimed that Timbre installs CCTV cameras in “every stall to monitor sales” to “ensure no one cheats”. This move, he said, invades stallholders’ privacy, as the cameras “have listening capabilities”.

Timbre says the cameras were installed in August 2024, following repeated feedback from residents living nearby on noise levels late at night.

“While we had reminded all hawkers to minimise noise during these hours, the feedback had continued. The CCTVs enable us to identify the potential sources of noise, so that we can better address residents’ feedback,” its spokesman said.

It adds that the CCTVs are useful for safety and security, resolving occasional customer disputes and verifying situations where a few hawkers were “observed not to conduct their transactions using the point-of-sales”, making it hard to determine the rent payable.

In a Facebook post on Aug 27, Mr Seetoh pointed out that “no hawker shouts incessantly when in the stall at work” and that noise concerns were no excuse for Timbre to surveil them with CCTVs. He claimed that there are a lot of hawker centres next to residential blocks and NEA found no need to install CCTVs in each stall.

In the Aug 23 post, he also accused Timbre of imposing excessive fines on hawkers, calling its list of $100 fines “scary”. It includes non-compliance offences such as refusal to accept loyalty apps as mode of payment for purchases and placing food and/or supplies on floor.


Timbre says these non-compliance charges have been part of its tenancy agreements since inception to ensure fairness to all stallholders.

“We have clauses in our tenancy agreements to provide a clean and conducive environment for all hawkers to operate in, as well as to ensure compliance with other areas such as the personal operations of the stall and the proper hiring of additional manpower,” it adds.

“These charges are applied as a last resort to deter repeated non-compliances, after multiple verbal reminders and written notices are provided. Thus far, our regular patrons at Yishun Park Hawker Centre have acknowledged the consistently clean and comfortable dining environment they continue to enjoy.”

It also clarified that the operator-run Timbre Pizza, which Mr Seetoh saw as evidence of the operator “depriving other independent hawkers” of a chance to operate another stall, had ceased operations at One Punggol Hawker Centre on Aug 17, as part of “planned business and manpower restructuring”.

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

 

[True Believer]

Timbre Group defends app discount, gross turnover rental model and hawker centre management practices
It also clarified that the operator-run Timbre Pizza, which Mr Seetoh saw as evidence of the operator “depriving other independent hawkers” of a chance to operate another stall, had ceased operations at One Punggol Hawker Centre on Aug 17, as part of “planned business and manpower restructuring”.

Isn't this exactly what govt-linked companies do? GLCs muscle in on highly profitable sectors to compete with MNCs as well as local companies.

 

[k1976]

Many landlords are from Jiuhu, Indon or even India or tiongkok

 

[k1976]

Owner used to have a Ferrari car parked infront in early 2000

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Rents for privately held HDB shops double in past year; prices hold steady for those leased from HDB​

HDB shop units can either be rented from private owners or the state.

Sep 01, 2025

SINGAPORE - Rental rates have more than doubled for privately held HDB shop units, particularly over the past year, while rents for shops directly leased out by HDB have mostly held steady.

Median rentals for heartland shops held by private landlords rose from $3.51 per sq ft (psf) in the second quarter of 2024 to $7.34 psf in the second quarter of 2025.

This is the highest ever rental rate for privately held HDB shops, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Realis data that dates back to 1999.


Meanwhile, shops directly rented out by HDB have seen rents rise at a more gradual rate.

HDB said rents for nine in 10 of such shops have remained largely unchanged over the past five years.

Property analysts and agents attributed the rise in rental rates for privately held HDB shops to increased demand for such units after consumer sentiment improved post-pandemic, even though there are signs that this demand is now moderating.

HDB shop units can either be rented from private owners or the state. The Housing Board said there are about 8,500 privately held HDB shops, while the remaining 7,000 shop units are directly rented out by the Government.


In 1998, the Government stopped selling HDB shop units to private owners, and the board now rents them out directly.

HDB said this gives it the “flexibility to better curate the trade mix of shops” and respond to residents’ needs.


The rising rents are squeezing some shops in the HDB heartland, leading them to relocate, downsize or close altogether.

To cope, some business owners have been subletting a part of their HDB shops.

For instance, Mr Ken Seng Guan’s bakery chain carved out a roughly 250 sq ft space from its 600 sq ft Pek Kio outlet and has sublet it to various shops over the 10 years it has operated the space – from a bubble tea store to a stationery shop, and now, a hair salon.

The Bakery Cuisine director said his rent – currently $12,000 – has gone up by about 40 per cent over the past decade, or about 10 per cent every three years.

The roughly $3,800 in monthly income from subletting has helped Bakery Cuisine continue running the privately held Pek Kio store despite rising overheads, said Mr Ken.

Mr Ken’s business also sublets some of its HDB-owned shops in Punggol and Pasir Ris, where rentals have hovered around $4,000 to $5,000 over the 10 to 20 years he has run them.


While rents for his HDB-owned stores have held steady, Mr Ken said he continues renting from private landlords because these stores – built before 1998 – tend to be near town centres, where footfall is higher.

There is no available data on how many tenants of privately held HDB shops sublet their units.

About 4 per cent of the 7,000 shops rented out by HDB are subletting their units, the board said. This excludes about 500 coffee shops, markets and market-produce shops.

Other businesses said they have had to downsize to smaller units.


In March 2024, mobile phone retailer Erajaya moved from its 500 sq ft unit in the atrium area of HDB Hub in Toa Payoh to a smaller 300 sq ft unit in a nearby block, after its private landlord asked for a 20 per cent to 30 per cent increase in rent. The business was paying about $28,000 a month.

Mr Jeff Ho, the store’s operations manager until early August, said the hike would have been unsustainable.

“We are just getting by. Our margins are small given the high rental,” said the 45-year-old.

Commuters passing by Singtel mobile phone retailer Erajaya’s shop in a row of HDB retail units at the foot of Block 190 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh during the evening rush hour on June 19.

ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

He added that rent for its current shop at Block 190 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh is about 20 per cent lower, but the trade-off is having less room to display products and serve customers.

Retailers in the same row of shops as Erajaya said at least five shops there have shuttered or downsized in the past year because of rental hikes and poor business.

According to Realis data, median rents for privately held HDB shops in Toa Payoh rose by 58.6 per cent from $4.91 psf in the fourth quarter of 2024 to $7.70 psf in the second quarter of 2025.

Even though rents for privately held HDB shops may be more volatile, property agents told The Straits Times many businesses still opt to lease from private landlords as their shops are located in older estates built before 1998.

Privately held HDB shops can also be rented out to any business, as long as they are on HDB’s list of allowable trades.

In comparison, units rented out by HDB are bound to specific trades under the tenancy agreement – for example, a unit that HDB has marked out for a medical facility cannot be rented out to a cafe owner.

The supply of privately held HDB shops that the Government stopped selling in 1998 is expected to become tighter because these units typically have 30-year leases, said Mr Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at property search portal Mogul.sg.

This means the lease for the last HDB sold shop with a 30-year lease could expire in 2028, he said.

“Going forward, the Government will be the main landlord of HDB shop units. Hence, it will be up to the Government to manage the rental costs of tenants in state-owned HDB shop units,” said Mr Mak.

HDB had in 2022

extended the leases for some 730 privately held HDB shops with expiring tenancies by at least a year

. During the extension, they could make new business plans or bid for a new tenancy.


Meanwhile, businesses that rent from the Government said rents have held mostly steady.

Data provided by HDB showed that the average rent for medical facilities rose to $8.71 psf in 2024, up 13 per cent from $7.68 psf in 2020.

The average rent for food and beverage shops was $7.66 psf in 2020, compared with $8.12 psf in 2024, while those for essential services – minimarts, provision shops and supermarkets – went from $5.15 psf in 2020 to $5.36 psf in 2024.

Unlike URA’s Realis, which gives rental data for privately held HDB shops in median values – the middle point when rents are arranged from lowest to highest – HDB provides rental data using average values. This is calculated by taking the mean of all the rents.

Mr Darren Tan, who runs bakery chain iCakes, said stable rental is a major perk of leasing a shop in Buangkok from HDB, for which he pays about $5,000 a month in rent.

The 35-year-old said rent for the roughly 500 sq ft unit had increased by about 10 per cent over the seven years he has operated it, which he said was reasonable for a mature estate.

Mobile phone retailer Yeo Siew Ngee said rental for a 150 sq ft shop he leases from HDB in Toa Payoh has been more reasonable than what private landlords are charging him for another two shops of the same size in the area.

He said HDB has increased the rent by about 5 per cent to 10 per cent in the decade that he has operated the store, whereas private landlords have raised rentals by 20 per cent to 30 per cent over the same period.

“The rent increases for my HDB shop are minimal, and that has helped me to sustain the business. For my other two stores, I have to sublet a part of the space to make sure we can afford the rent,” said Mr Yeo, 51, who declined to give specific figures.


But some business owners said HDB-owned shop units can be difficult to secure because of high bids.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) physician Tan Yuan Ming said he was edged out of a public tender for an HDB retail unit in Sengkang in March by bids that were twice his own.

Mr Tan made a bid of $4,700 for the 527 sq ft unit, but saw that successive bids on HDB’s online bidding portal hit five-figure sums.

The unit at Block 279 Sengkang East Avenue was awarded to Q & M Dental Centre, which had placed a $14,000 bid. There were 21 bidders for the unit, who submitted bids ranging from $3,850 to $14,000.

Mr Tan, 32, has since 2023 been looking for a retail unit to grow his business The TCM Folks, a mobile TCM clinic he founded in 2022. It currently makes house calls as it does not have a brick-and-mortar space.

“I’d thought it’d be cheaper to rent a shop from HDB, but it turned out that the bids still went way above what we can stomach as a small business,” he said.

That said, property agents said there are signs that rents for HDB shops are cooling. They attributed this to an uncertain economic outlook, which has spooked businessmen from opening new stores.


Business owners are also more cautious about committing to high rents, causing rental growth to moderate slightly in 2025, said ERA property agent Patrick Poh.

With businesses also facing greater cost pressures – from manpower to utilities – landlords are also becoming slightly more flexible in rental negotiations, Mr Poh added.

Mr Alex Wong from PropNex Realty said: “In 2024, it was more of a landlord’s market, when the sentiment among businesses was bullish.

“Today, it’s become more of a tenant’s market, as inquiries have dropped and landlords seem more willing to negotiate offers that do not meet their asking prices.”

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Cathay Cineplexes to be wound up after talks with creditors fail​

The cinema chain, which owes money to landlords of several of its outlets, is unable to continue operating as a going concern.

Sep 01, 2025

SINGAPORE - Entertainment company mm2 Asia on Sept 1 announced that Cathay Cineplexes will undergo voluntary liquidation.

The struggling cinema chain, which owes money to the landlords of several of its outlets, is unable to continue operating as a going concern, its parent company said.

“Cathay Cineplexes had attempted to negotiate amicable resolutions with the various creditors, but (it) was unable to arrive at mutually agreeable restructuring outcomes of its payment obligations owed to these creditors,” mm2 Asia said.


The board of Cathay Cineplexes will proceed with a creditors’ voluntary liquidation of the cinema chain, after determining that it is “no longer feasible” to continue operating as a going concern, the media company said.

An extraordinary general meeting of the members of Cathay Cineplexes and a meeting of its creditors will be convened in due course.

mm2 Asia’s statement named as claimants DBS Trustee, the trustee of Lendlease Global Commercial Reit; the landlords of Century Square mall, Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No. 2193 and Century Square LLP; HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore), the trustee of Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT); Lendlease Retail Investments 3 (in members’ voluntary liquidation); Alprop and Resorts Concepts.

These include the landlords of Cathay Cineplexes’ outlets at malls such as Century Square, Causeway Point and Jem.

In recent months, the cinema chain received millions in payment demands from landlords of its outlets over rental arrears and other monies owed. This came alongside a string of closures of its cinema outlets.

In February, it received payment demands for around $2.7 million from the landlords of its Century Square and Causeway Point outlets. Both malls are owned by FCT.


The landlord of its Jem outlet, Lendlease Global Commercial Reit, issued a $3.4 million payment demand in July.

Alprop submitted a claim of around $1 million for the West Mall outlet which closed in February, on behalf of the mall’s landlord UOL Group.

mm2 Asia said in July that it was mulling over the closure of the cinema chain, as the industry has faced challenges since Covid-19.

Six Cathay Cineplexes cinemas have closed in the last three years, leaving four still in operation at Causeway Point, Century Square, Downtown East and 321 Clementi.

For its last financial year ended in March, mm2 Asia posted a net loss of $105.2 million, widening the $5.7 million loss it incurred in the year-ago period.

Shares of mm2 Asia were trading unchanged at 0.4 cent as at 10.23am on Sept 1, after the news about Cathay Cineplexes.

THE BUSINESS TIMES

 

[LITTLEREDDOT]

Prive Group shuts all its restaurants, the latest F&B casualty in Singapore​

At its peak, The Prive Group ran a chain of cafes in prominent locations such as Wheelock Place.

Summary

• Prive Group, operating cafes and Empress restaurant, ceased operations on Aug 31, 2025, and will appoint a financial advisor.
• Commonwealth Concepts will take over Prive's two establishments at Asian Civilisations Museum from September 1, 2025.
• Singapore's restaurant industry faces closures due to economic factors; 1,724 food businesses shuttered as of August 2025.

AI generated

Sep 01, 2025

SINGAPORE – The Prive Group has closed all its restaurants, in what has been a brutal 2025 for the food and beverage industry.

In a message to its suppliers, the group, which operated a chain of upmarket restaurants, said it will “cease all restaurant operations after the close of business” on Aug 31.

“We will be appointing a professional independent financial advisor who will contact you in due course,” the message read. “Please note that any next steps will be handled through this advisor, and we ask for your patience as we work through this transition.”


As at Aug 31, the group’s website showed it was running five establishments: Prive at Holland Village, Botanic Gardens, Wheelock Place and Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM), and Chinese restaurant Empress at the museum.

The message also said that the two establishments at ACM will be “taken over” by Commonwealth Concepts, with effect from Sept 1.

Commonwealth Concepts, a joint venture between investment company Commonwealth Capital and Far East Organization, operates food brands such as Fat Cow, Pasta Mania, Bedrock Bar & Grill, Swissbake and Baker & Cook.

The Prive Group, established in 2007, started from one upscale restaurant at Keppel Bay. It went on to operate nightlife spots such as Stereolab and Mink, both now defunct. By 2018, it had grown the Prive brand into a chain known for breezy cafe food such as Brioche Kaya Toast and Juicy Lucy Burger, and plant-based food options.

Things had not been looking good. It shuttered its outlets at Jewel Changi Airport and 313 Somerset in 2025. The one at 313 Somerset was repossessed in February by Lendlease, the landlord. Another prominent outlet, at Paragon, was taken over by American coffee chain Blue Bottle, which opened there in July.

The group had also been in the news in 2021. Its former chief executive, French national Jean-Luc Vu Han, was on trial for hurling vulgarities at and assaulting a teenager in an unprovoked attack in a lift. The incident, which happened on Nov 22, 2019, happened when the man was in a drunken rage, and the attack affected the then 13-year-old boy so badly that he was still scared of taking the lift about a year later.


In 2022, he was sentenced to two weeks’ jail time, and had to pay a $3,500 fine for assaulting the boy.

The restaurant industry has been struggling in the last three years, as post Covid-19 revenge spending halted. Diners are choosing to spend their strong Singapore dollars overseas or are tightening their belts amid global economic and political uncertainties. Operators have been struggling with high overheads and the dearth of manpower.

In 2024, 3,790 new food businesses started up, and 3,047 wound down. The number of closures was an almost 20-year high, surpassed only in 2005, which saw 3,352 closures.

As at August, according to figures from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, 2,333 new food businesses started up in 2025, and 1,724 have shuttered.

The turmoil has spared no type of food business; casual, upmarket or fine-dining.

Notable closures this year include one-Michelin-starred restaurants Euphoria and Alma by Juan Amador, both in August. They announced their closing at the beginning of August, right after the launch of the 2025 Singapore Michelin Guide, which took place at the end of July. Fine-dining Japanese restaurant Imamura, at Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa, has also shuttered.


Brands such as Eggslut, Manhattan Fish Market and Burger & Lobster have packed up. Japanese restaurants and chains, ever-so-popular with diners, have also taken a beating, with ramen brands Kanada-Ya and Ramen Santouka exiting. Souffle pancake chain Fluff Stack, with five outlets, is gone too.

Even food kiosks are not immune. Har Har Chicken, which sold prawn paste chicken, closed its three outlets barely a year after launching.

Hotpot chain Haidilao shuttered its flagship restaurant at Clarke Quay on Aug 31, when the lease expired. The restaurant opened in 2012 and marked the chain’s entry into Singapore. Earlier in 2025, it closed its suburban restaurants in Bedok, Pasir Ris and Punggol.

There is more to come. In September, heritage restaurant Ka-Soh in Greenwood Avenue, Flourish Bakehouse at the Singapore Management University, and halal bakery Fluff Bakery in North Bridge Road, are expected to close.

 

[laksaboy]

Foot Locker at Orchard Gateway Emerald closed. The escalators are also barricaded and not operational now. To get to the third floor bridge, you need to take the lift.

I will miss the loud upbeat music played there and the scenes of people trying on pairs of shoes.