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Woodleigh Mall faces rising vacancies, tenant reports ‘totally unsustainable’ 30% increase in rent
Ethel TsengMar 31, 2026 at 10:33am
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Recent shop closures at The Woodleigh Mall have raised concerns among customers, as employees of remaining stalls flag high rental costs.
Simon, a 40-year-old management consultant, told Stomp that the heartland shopping centre started seeing shop closures earlier this year — its third year of operations.
After two years of “stable” business, he recalled seeing tenants leave, with replacements moving in quickly.
Recently, however, Simon observed “mass vacancy” in the mall, with store units “boarded up with no new takers.”
In recent weeks, established brands like Swee Heng Bakery and Fish & Co. have announced the closure of their outlets at The Woodleigh Mall.
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Burger King, with over 60 outlets islandwide, made headlines when it shuttered its outlet at the mall. Claypot rice restaurant, Gunkee Claypot, is set to move into the space by July.
The observation was also shared in a Reddit post, with netizens baffled at the spate of closures at “yet another shopless mall”.
Heartland malls should be ‘down to earth’: Visitor
When Stomp visited the mall at 11am on May 7, over 10 units on the Basement 1 level were vacant.Despite a steady stream of visitors at the mall, only a handful stopped to patronise food stalls.
Simon said he felt “angry and worried” at the closures, adding that shoppers now had fewer choices and could face higher prices if new stores moved in.
“There are so many HDBs around here. Woodleigh Mall is the only full-fledged mall serving the Bidadari area and Potong Pasir.
“Heartland mall should be down to earth, have more local cuisines,” he added.
Stomp has reached out to The Woodleigh Mall for comment.
Homegrown brand bemoans 30 per cent rent increase
Constance Tan, director of homegrown bubble tea brand No.17 Tea, said the brand had to relocate its Woodleigh Mall outlet to another unit on the same floor, with Luckin Coffee taking over its previous space.“We didn’t manage to renew our existing unit as they quoted a 30 per cent increase in rental and it’s totally unsustainable,” Ms Tan told Stomp, adding that they had to downsize to a smaller kiosk-format unit within the mall instead.
The outlet had operated there since May 2023, taking over a “completely bare” unit and “investing quite heavily” in renovations.
How much of your allowance/salary do you spend on food in a month?
However, Ms Tan said she and other tenants had observed dwindling footfall on weekdays, especially during non-peak hours.“Honestly quite sad to see more local brands struggling or leaving over time, while many newer Chinese brands are coming in and replacing the spaces quite quickly,” she said.
“Retail and operating costs in Singapore have become very tough for homegrown businesses.”
‘We really need rent to be lowered’
A 70-year-old employee at a basement-level store agreed, noting that business fluctuated frequently.“A lot of people said that rental is expensive. When rent increases, businesses will run away,” she said.
“If rent didn’t rise, maybe they could have stayed. But once it increases, there’s no need for discussion,” she added.
Another part-time worker at Kang Xiao Lu, a fried duck stall, said that business was poor.
“We really need rent to be lowered, otherwise we can’t carry on,” she said in Mandarin, stressing that cost of living has become sky-high.
Other patrons unfazed
However, other mall patrons appeared unbothered by the changes.A 73-year-old Aljunied resident who visits the mall twice a month said she was surprised to find many stores shuttered.
But these changes did not stop her from visiting entirely, as it was one of the few malls in the area.
Another 75-year-old retiree, Mr Hoe, viewed the closures positively, saying that prices at some of the exiting stores were unaffordable.
In contrast, he felt the arrival of new businesses added variety.
The Hougang resident said he frequents the mall two or three times a week, saying the mall had a “good atmosphere” and is conveniently located near bus stops and an MRT station.
From conversations with tenants, he speculated that rising rental costs would have contributed to the exodus of many stalls.
“The market is bad now. There’s a war going on. If price increases, who want to rent?”
