If you grew up buying assessment books, stationery and those pens that somehow became extremely important right before an exam, you would probably know POPULAR Bookstore very well.
Now, two of its familiar Singapore outlets are preparing to close.
The POPULAR outlet at VivoCity will close after 16 August 2026, while its Jurong Point outlet will cease operations after 13 September.
However, this is not the chapter where POPULAR disappears from Singapore.
The bookstore chain has said that it has no plans for further store closures, and another outlet will actually be reopening in September.
POPULAR at VivoCity Will Close After 16 August
According to The Straits Times, POPULAR said in response to queries on 6 August that its VivoCity and Jurong Point outlets would close because of the shopping malls’ retail plans.
The VivoCity outlet opened in 2018 and will operate until 16 August.
A moving-out sale is being held at the store until its closure.
For customers who usually visit the VivoCity outlet, POPULAR said its nearest remaining branch is at Tiong Bahru Plaza.
The Jurong Point Outlet Has Been There Since 1995
The Jurong Point closure may hit rather differently for west-siders.
The outlet has been operating there since 1995, meaning it has been around for more than three decades.
Its last day will be 13 September 2026.
A moving-out sale will run from 14 August to 13 September.
For customers in the west, POPULAR pointed to its outlets at Westgate, West Mall and The Clementi Mall as nearby alternatives.
So if you remember going to the Jurong Point POPULAR as a child and are now bringing your own children there, congratulations. Time has once again personally attacked you.
But POPULAR Says No More Stores Are Set to Close
Despite the two closures, POPULAR told ST that it has “no plans for any further store closures”.
In fact, another outlet is returning.
POPULAR will reopen at Hougang Mall on 4 September 2026. Its previous outlet there closed in January while the mall underwent major renovations.
With the Hougang Mall reopening, POPULAR said it will have 26 stores across Singapore.
The company also said it is continuing to identify strategic new locations and will hold roadshows at shopping malls around Singapore.
There are other signs that POPULAR is still investing in physical stores.
Its Tampines Mall branch reopened on 6 March 2026 after a month-long renovation. The refreshed outlet spans about 8,000 sq ft and has been at Tampines Mall since 2004.
POPULAR Has Closed Other Long-Running Outlets Before
These are also not POPULAR’s first outlet closures.
Its Marine Parade outlet shut in June 2023 after 37 years, while its Thomson Plaza branch closed in 2019. An IMM outlet also closed in 2021.
However, the reasons given for the Marine Parade closure were different from those currently given for VivoCity and Jurong Point.
In 2023, POPULAR told ST that rising rental and labour costs were among the main challenges faced by retailers. It also said footfall at its Marine Parade outlet had fallen significantly before the pandemic and had not recovered.
For the VivoCity and Jurong Point closures, POPULAR’s stated reason was instead the malls’ retail plans.
POPULAR Has Also Become Much More Than a Bookstore
POPULAR’s history in Singapore stretches back more than a century.
Its story began in 1924, when founder Chou Sing Chu started Cheng Hing Company as a distributor of Chinese books and other products. Popular Book Company was subsequently established in 1936 as a retail channel for Chinese books.
But anyone who has entered a POPULAR store recently would know that books are only part of the business nowadays.
The retailer has expanded into stationery, gadgets, IT products, lifestyle products and even snacks.
POPULAR previously said that changing consumer habits, including people reading fewer physical books, pushed it to transform from a traditional bookstore into more of a one-stop retail store.
So while two long-standing locations are disappearing, POPULAR itself is not closing down.
For now, west-siders who have spent decades at the Jurong Point outlet still have slightly more than a month to make one final visit.
And perhaps buy one last assessment book for old times’ sake.
