More than 20 large souvenir warehouses for tourists in Singapore, many of which have been in operation for decades, have closed permanently, due to Covid-19 travel restrictions here and around the world.
Without the end of the pandemic in sight, other retailers see this as their inevitable end in the coming months, he found the Sunday Times.
On bad days, some gift shops at popular tourist spots like Chinatown and Bugis Street don’t even see a single customer.
Joe Chen, founder of the Singapore Souvenir Center, one of the largest players with 10 outlets with other brands, said there would possibly be a scenario where tourist outlets almost disappear when resumed.
“It would be a pity. After all, we’re also going to market Singapore to tourists,” said Chen, 29, who estimates that 90% of the souvenir department store will close in the next six months if they don’t arrive sooner. .
The pandemic has decimated the tourism industry, with the air paralyzed by the closure of borders.
Singapore recorded a terrible arrival of 2,200 guests in June, up from 1.6 million last year. There were 750 guests in April and 880 in May, to 1.6 million and 1.5 million in the same months last year.
The effect it has had on these souvenir shops, which have the tourist market to survive. For those stores, activity fell by at least 80%.
Many investors have had to take use of their savings for their business and some have stopped asking for new stocks since February.
These outlets sell a variety of souvenirs, ranging from Merlion chocolates to exclusive kebaya T-shirts and tops in Singapore.
Other non-unusual souvenirs come with cups, magnets, key fobs, wallets and handbags posted on Singapore sites.
Related Story Singapore hostels miss the home holiday boom in the middle of Covid-19 When ST visited Bugis Street last Thursday, saw a dozen bags of unopened Singapore t-shirts and kebayas in a store. During the following week, store owner Alice Leow, 67, said she had no business.
He has bought new shares since March and plans to liquidate his business.
“We sell souvenirs but if there are no tourists, how can we sell them? People may not buy souvenirs,” Leow said. “I don’t know what to do; we can’t return the goods.”
Despite this, some souvenir stores stated that they had a contract to open every day.
On Orchard Road, a Loss-loss shop in the past six months has had to fire two workers. Its owner, who refused to be identified, now has fewer than 10 consumers a day, about 40 visitors before the arrival of Covid-19.
As a result, he shortened opening hours from thirteen to 8 hours. “Otherwise, I’d be doing nothing,” he added.
Some outlets have promotional masks or have implemented shorter pay cuts and hours of operation to reduce prices and stay afloat.
The Singapore Remembrance Centre has stopped all souvenir production since January. Gone are the days when buses full of tourists arrived to collect souvenirs. Their outlets now sell masks.
The owner of the Rezqi collection, Irene Anthony (left) and the seller Helen Anthony, her Pagoda Street store, which closes at the end of the month due to the consequences of Covid-19. PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
“We had plans for more services, but since then they have been suspended,” Chen said.
In Chinatown, more than a dozen department stores have closed permanently. The tourist hotspot devoid of its own old hordes of visitors when this journalist visited it last week.
Cindy Zhao closed 3 of her 4 outlets in Chinatown, where high rents charge her about $20,000 a month, according to the store.
Last Friday, the 50-year-old owner of Orchid Chopsticks, who sells souvenirs such as chopsticks and fans, was busy transporting goods from one store to another.
“It’s heartbreaking because I put so many paintings in the shops,” said Zhao, who has painted on the line for over 15 years.
Another store, The Tintin Shop, which has been promoting character-like memorabilia in Chinatown for 10 years, closes its doors this month.
The store, which had between two hundred and three hundred visitors a day earlier, now only sees a handful of consumers. Tourists accounted for 80% of their consumers before the arrival of Covid-19.
“It’s a miracle if we can see 10 people. It doesn’t even make sense to turn on the air conditioner,” said shop owner Gabriel Tan, 33.
He added: “It’s a miserable sight to see Chinatown like this. it’s like a ghost town.
Recently, the store began offering discounts of at least 30 percent. He also began promoting infrequent collectibles that he had never put up for sale to increase the budget for relocation. “It’s like we’re donating portions of the store,” Tan said.
DEAD CITY
It’s a miracle if we can see 10 people. It doesn’t even make sense to turn on the air conditioner … It’s a miserable sight to see Chinatown like this; It’s like a ghost town.
Mr. GABRIEL TAN, owner of the Tintin boutique who has been promoting character-like memories for 10 years and is finishing its doors this month.
He said some other store is “betting in favor of the market, hoping to be there when things get back to normal.”
Nearby, Rezqi Collection also closes its doors forever. The shop sells fabrics and jewellery and also offers sewing services. Your monthly rent is approximately $11,000.
Helen Anthony, 53, who works at the store, said: “Even on weekends they are quiet. It is not imaginable that it will continue when we cannot cover the rent. In the past, we could simply cover rent, wages and still make some profit. . »
Store owners believe they may not have lasted that long without government measures, such as wage aid and hiring reimbursements, but many still don’t know if their businesses would suffer from the pandemic.
“We took it one day at a time, ” said the lucky Gift House owner to Lucky Plaza. “The problem is that we have no idea how long it would last.”
The 54-year-old woman, who called Ms. Yu, said the store had been bleeding for six months.
“We have to be realistic,” he said. “If we don’t make money, we still don’t have a choice to end the business.”
Read the latest news about the Covid-19 scenario in Singapore and beyond in our engagement here.
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