Isetan in Westgate Has Been Losing Money & Closing by End of 2019

It seems that Jurong East hasn’t been treating some stores kindly.

First, Marks & Spencer from JEM announced it’s closing down sale. Now, Isetan is walking out of Westgate by 22 December too.

After reading the headline, what questions come to mind?

“Why are they leaving?”

“What will happen to Isetan after this?

“How can I reap the benefits of a dying store?”

“How do these thoughts appear in my head? Am I reading them as words, or hearing them spoken? What if I think in images? How do I display “why are they leaving” as an image?”

“What should I eat later?”

Well, read on to find out the answers to some, or actually only two, of those questions!

“Why are they leaving?”

Basically, the Westgate outlet of Isetan needs to renew their lease with JG Trustee (JGT) six months before its expiry on 22 December.

So, their deadline is coming soon, but the discussion of the terms of renewal isn’t coming to a close, probably because of the complication that this particular Isetan outlet isn’t bringing in as much dough as it should.

In Isetan Singapore’s own words, “The rationale for the company’s decision not to renew the lease is due to both parties not being able to reach an agreement on the renewal terms of the lease favourable to this loss-making store.”

The way this is phrased seems to put the focus on the lack of agreement in the renewal terms as the reason for their exit, but really when you look at things more simply, it’s probably just because the store isn’t doing well.

(As in its probably harder to reach an arrangement that is  “favourable” if things are already going to shit. Am I allowed to type shit in an article?)

So Isetan decided to cut their losses, a perfect rationale economic strategy.

To put it less crudely (ie words said by Isetan Singapore as reported by Channel Newsasia): This decision is part of the company’s ongoing exercise of “continuous assessment, realignment and consolidation of its operations” to enable better deployment of existing resources among its other business units.

“What will happen to Isetan after this?

Isetan is no doubt a pretty valuable presence in Singapore as a fairly affordable department store, so many of us probably don’t want to see it go the way of Chili’s and, nearly, Kenny Rogers.

For now, there is nothing to reassure you, just the report that the financial effect of this outlet’s closure “cannot be reasonably estimated at the date of the announcement”.

So treasure Isetan while you can, and hopefully, that will give them the revenue they need to stay on.

Bonus question: “How can I reap the benefits of a dying store?”

As of now, you can’t. But you can keep your eyes peeled for another closing down sale like a vulture, I guess. It’s only practical, after all.