A walk down Orchard Road on how the coronavirus pandemic has hit Singapore’s well-known grocery shopping street.
Gone are popular restaurants like Modesto, which closed last month after 23 years. There are also rows of Chinese tourists missing in front of Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Shopping malls along the 2.4-kilometre stretch, once one of Asia’s most productive shopping malls, are filled with empty shops. On a recent mid-week afternoon, the number of store workers who dust off shelves or play with their cell phones greeting consumers is remarkable.
“This is the worst crisis for Singapore and Orchard Road,” said Kiran Assodani, who runs his bespoke sewing workshop at one of the oldest shopping malls in 35 years. The point of sale of the changes, which is aimed at both tourists and locals, has noticed that its sales are falling by 90% since the epidemic of the virus. “I don’t know if department stores will be able to deal with this storm.”
Orchard Road’s discomfort is a microcosm of city-state pain. After effectively containing the Covid-19, an epidemic spread across many dormitories housing foreign workers, causing a two-month partial blockade that sent the economy to the worst recession in its history. Global restrictions deprive Singapore of about $20 billion in tourism profits and the domestic market is too small to fill the void.
Originally, the fruit, nutmeg and pepper farm site in the early 19th century that gave the band its name, transforming Orchard Road into a dazzling shopping mall, the first giant store opened in 1958, reflected Singapore’s own expansion from a sleepy dream. advanced industry in one of the richest nations in the world.
Now it marks the decline of the economy.
Italian restaurant Modesto survived the SARS epidemic and Asian and global currency crises for more than two decades on Orchard Road, but gave way under the coronavirus. Instead of renewing his lease, owner Ashok Melwani made the decision to reduce his losses and close it permanently.
“If I renewed, I would make a sign for a roller coaster in the dark,” said the 62-year-old man, who also closed the nearby Modesto store for a moment. “I can bleed and bleed into sight.”
Modesto Restaurant on Orchard Road.
Photo: Wei Leng Tay / Bloomberg
The slowdown has affected both luxury and low-end stores.
Robert Chua, who runs a discounted luggage shop at Far East Plaza, estimates it may take about two more months. I used to earn about S$25,000 ($18,000) a month by promoting suitcases and backpacks to basically American, European and Chinese tourists. Now, a $300 S day is a smart day and some days there are no customers.
“Every day I come to the store with a feeling of sadness,” the 50-year-old said. In his ledgers, he helps keep expenses of $3 S$50, a Chinese superstition designed to circulate money, to no avatily. “I can’t sleep thinking about the expenses I have to pay.” Their hiring of S$6,000 resumed this month after the government and some landlords ended rent refunds in July.
At least 20 outlets in Far East Plaza, which is partly owned by the billionaire circle of RB Capital relatives, are empty, with “For rent” stickers stuck with optimism on their shutters.
A few blocks from the highest-end Ngee Ann City, which is a component of Starhill Global REIT’s portfolio, is a similar story. Several outlets are closed, adding a Japanese eating spot and a British Indian clothing retailer.
“It’s never been worse and I’ve been working in the retail business since 1994,” said Nana Sahamat, manager of Japanese clothing store Fray I.D. “Before the crisis, I took care of entertaining customers, but now I spend more time in the backroom taking inventory.”
It is true that Orchard Road is already losing its shine before it hit the coronavirus. The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands has attracted wealthy tourists and domestic consumers with upscale stores such as Christian Louboutin, Fendi and Gucci, and gourmet restaurants such as Cut through Wolfgang Puck.
Pedestrians dressed in a protective mask pass through a Victoria’s Secret establishment along Orchard Road.
Photo: Wei Leng Tay / Bloomberg
Meanwhile, the most cost-conscious shoppers head to the suburbs with big brands like Uniqlo, Zara and Topshop, and no longer see the desire to venture into Orchard Road.
“Before the pandemic, Orchard Road had already noticed a decline in pedestrians and sales,” said Wong King Yin, a marketing professor at Nanyang University of Technology in Singapore.
“It’s only when foreign tourism has fully recovered, the economy has recovered and everyone is able to spend, and when Orchard Road is going to offer exclusive reports rather than shopping, then the community can attract other people as it did at its peak,” he told me.
There have been repeated attempts to rejuvenate the area. The futuristic Ion Orchard Shopping Center of CapitaLand Ltd. opened in 2009 and shoppers can get everything they want, from luxury and fashion jewelry to brands like Swarovski. There is also a huge food court in the basement offering fast food and Singaporean street specialties. The Strip also made grocery shopping at midnight, monthly pedestrian nights and a $40 million makeover to expand sidewalks.
“The experiments presented are not yet aimed at ‘impressing’ consumers,” Wong said.
Last year, the government unveiled new plans to turn Orchard Road into a ‘lifestyle destination’. The band is expected to be divided into 4 neighborhoods, with its own purpose, such as art and culture, a youth center and a grassy district.
“Like many other cities, Singapore is investigating imaginable adjustments to customer behavior and the effect of the pandemic on our urban progression plans,” the Singapore Tourism Board and the Urban Reprogresion Authority said in an email response to Bloomberg’s questions. “If necessary, we will consider the adjustment and progression of express plans.”
For restaurateur Melwani, it’s a little late.
“Orchard Road has its charms, but I’m afraid the shipment has sailed, ” he said. “Honestly, I don’t know what glamour can bring back.”