11 Shops in Sim Lim Square Put Up for Sale for a Lower Price Due to Poor Business

By
Boon Hun
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Previously, we talked about tech companies meeting with hard times.

Well, it’s not just tech companies.

Retail shops in a certain tech mall are also facing a lot of difficulties.

11 Shops in Sim Lim Square Put Up for Sale for a Lower Price Due to Poor Business

If you’re interested in opening up a “megastore” in Sim Lim Square, this could be your chance to do so now.

On 23 Jul 2020, marketing agent Knight Frank said that 11 stores on the fifth floor of Sim Lim Square, facing the central podium, are now put on sale. Again.

Why again?

Because in January this year, before the words “Circuit Breaker” strike fear in people’s hearts, they were already put up for sale, at S$22 million.

This time, the guide price for all the 11 units is S$21 million, which comes out to around S$4,134 per square foot (pdf).

Maybe if they’re still not sold next year, the guide price will drop to $20,000. Who knows.

In total, the area within the 11 units comes out to 5,080 square feet.

No Customers, No Stocks

One of the shops, Video Pro, told reporters that their daily total earnings on weekdays have fallen from $10,000 in February to between $3,000 and $5,000 now.

Now, don’t think, “Simi, $3,000 a day and still not enough?!”

Remember, it’s revenue and not net profit. So they could earn $1 since they sold a computer for $3,000 when the cost price is $2,999.

Also, because of a disruption of supplies from China, the shop also has a shortage of computer parts, which means customers goes off as well.

Other retailers within the mall also said that their sales have halved over the past few months.

They attributed the drop to the lack of tourists and foreign workers, delayed shipments and greater competition from online shopping platforms.

Also, while Phase Two has started, it’s hard for people in Singapore to switch their shopping habits, which were practised over the past few months, with a snap of the fingers.

People have gotten used to shopping online, saving time and travel expenses.

And even when shoppers visit the mall more during Phase Two, it’s because they want to jalan jalan, and not because they have something to buy.

Several stores in the mall have already closed due to poor sales.

Moral of the story: you don’t need Jover Chew to cancel a mall.

Moving More Businesses Online

If you haven’t heard, the Singapore Retailers Association (SRA) has changed their minds and are bringing back GSS for this year…but online.

There’ll be a centralised platform, interactive and immersive shopping experiences and interactive games and live-streaming for eGSS 2020.

They’ll even be using influencers to help brands sell stuff on live-streams, just like Wang Lei.

But that’s not important, what’s important is this:

The new centralised platform, GoSpree.sg will also showcase brands’ best-selling and limited-edition items, which will bring users directly to the brands’ websites when clicked upon.

In other words, brands must be digitalized and online before they are able to fully leverage this year’s online GSS’s free marketing opportunities.

Hopefully, this will make some of the businesses decide to go online, the Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) said.

Watch this for a complete summary of what REALLY happened to Qoo10, and why it's like a K-drama:

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Boon Hun
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