new century square, same old shops
Year 2 Diploma in Mass Communication
Module: News Writing
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Shoppers may still be caught up in Century Square’s old shadow: Retail Expert.
By Karin Chew Shi Yun
Century Square reopened on June 6 2018 after a nine-month renovation.
Despite Century Square’s reopening on Jun 6, 2018 after its $60-million renovation, shoppers still prefer going to Tampines Mall and Tampines One.
First opened in 1995, Century Square is the oldest mall in the Tampines area, battling with the newer and more popular additions that are Tampines Mall and Tampines One. Hence, the recent revamp came to many as “about time”, says Ms Nadia Cheah, 24, a shopper who patronises Century Square.
On weekends, the mall definitely has significantly more foot traffic as compared to the period before the renovation, with families and couples around every corner. However, even after its major makeover, most shoppers still prefer shopping at the other malls in the Tampines area, such as Tampines Mall and Tampines One. Out of 135 surveyed respondents, only 14% prefer Century Square over the other two malls, with 51% choosing Tampines Mall as their preferred choice and 35% choosing Tampines One.
Not many shoppers visit Century Square on weekdays, even after the evening peak hour.
“It’s a nice visual update, but I won’t necessarily say the shops are better,” says Ephraim Wong, 19, a Tampines resident.
Many felt that the shop variety seemed similar to what the old Century Square used to have, with a familiar mix of mostly Food & Beverage (F&B), Beauty & Wellness and Homeware outlets, with most citing the mall’s interior design as the only obvious improvement.
Ms Loa Yen Nam, shop assistant of ToysHunt, one of the shops that continued to operate after the renovation, says the shop has not seen any significant improvement in their sales as compared to before the renovation, as it could be because the new Century Square seems to be “almost the same” as the old one, and hence there is not a significant increase in shoppers at the mall.
There are also a few shoppers such as Ms Valarmathi Gina, 42, a homemaker who used to frequent Century Square, who prefer the old Century Square.
“I think the environment was friendlier,” she says, “and the choice of shops was also better, as compared to now. I think here there are now some shops that are a bit unfamiliar to me… There are less mainstream shops. I don’t really get what I want to get.”
On the other hand, Mr Samuel Tan, course manager of Temasek Polytechnic’s Retail Management programme, believes that the new shops in Century Square should be “quite refreshing to the residents in Tampines and Pasir Ris” due to the fact that most of them are not mainstream shops.
“When you renovate a new mall, it makes sense to try new takes. If you keep introducing stuff similar to your competitors, it doesn’t make sense. You will not excite the shoppers,” he says.
Compared to the old Century Square, they are now bringing in bigger brands. The new Century Square offers several brands such as Tools of the Trade, better known as ToTT, and Foot Locker. Century Square marks TOTT’s first outlet in the East area and Foot Locker’s first outlet in Singapore. As to how Century Square is differentiating themselves with new and fresh brands, Mr Tan says they are on good ground with the other two nearby malls.
He says that perhaps residents who feel that the shops in Century Square are similar to the old ones have lost interest in the Century Square or are still caught up in the “old Century Square’s shadow”.
“It wasn’t a very enticing place to go, under the previous setup, so maybe now with all these new tenants – new tenant mix, it will be more attractive for shoppers. Perhaps when all the shops are fully open, we may hear different feedback from the shoppers,” he says.
Not many shoppers visit Century Square on weekdays, even after the evening peak hour.