What's happening to the malls of Tampines?

08 May 2023

Seriously, what's happening to the malls of Tampines?? so many of the popular & long-time tenants are closing within the past 1-2years, and most got replaced by lousier shops...

long gone are the days of Tampines Central being labelled the best 'heartland shopping district outside Orchard', as the standard and quality of the shops have declined so sharply over the past 3-5years; especially so for Tampines 1 & Century Square.

What's happening to Tampines 1?
technically, Tampines 1 has the best location among the 3 malls, as it is directly beside the MRT stations & bus interchange. but Frasers is wasting its prime frontages for claw machines or selfie studio??!? Tampines 1 has degraded from a mall filled with popular brands (e.g. Topshop/Topmen, Sephora, Esprit, Lowrys Farm, Muji, etc.) & new entrance to the Singapore market (e.g. 1st Uniqlo store in Singapore, Payless Shoesource), to a rather low-class mall flooded with flea-market-style shops (e.g. Walah/turtle) & over-representation of china brands (e.g. Kun Hai Shop, Tan Yu, HLA, Luckin Coffee).

many shops & eateries that i like had closed (e.g. Under Armour, Dot, Topmen, World of Sports, Sports Link, Barcook Bakery, Hot Star Large Fried Chicken, Fruit Box, UrbanWrite, etc.), or relocated to Tampines Mall (e.g. Uniqlo) recently. with more shops closing, i'm wondering how much lower the standard of Tampines 1 will drop. guess without Muji, Daiso & Donki, Tampines 1 will just be a 'neighbourhood mall' worse than Seletar Mall.

What's happening to Century Square?
despite been the longest surviving mall in Tampines Central (since 1995), Century Square has been struggling since the opening of Tampines 1 in 2009. while not as glamorous as the other 2 neighbours, Century Square is still doing fine with then anchor tenants BHG, Best Denki & other shops like Kiddy Palace, Bata, Bega & Chicken Up. However, the 2018 makeover totally killed the mall. to put it crudely, Century Square does not seems to have a branding nor a target audience now (Century Square used to target ladies shoppers in 2003). the current tenant mix is quite random, messy & pathetic. you know its problematic when the current 'anchor tenant' of Century Square is Haidilao, Gymmboxx, Foot Locker & Prime supermarket. much of the malls are occupied by tuition centres, clinics & hair/beauty salons.

with an already low footfall, the irony is that Frasers seems to be chasing out existing tenants (e.g. Gymmboxx, Shi Tang by Mahota Kitchen). usually landlords will increase rental when they already have prospective tenant(s) that are either on par or better than the incumbent. so i'm looking forward to see who will be taking over the numerous vacant spaces at Century Square (especially at the L1 entrance where The Underground, Veola, Kappa & Mahota were located). Nevertheless, will any of the new tenants be the saviour for Century Square?

it also seems quite obvious that Frasers is just holding on to Century Square to avoid CapitaMall from subsuming it to enlarge Tampines Mall (similar to how Iluma was converted into Bugis+ and connected to Bugis Junction). if that happens, it will be doomsday for Tampines 1. else, would Century Square follow the same route as Bedok Point and JCube (to be redeveloped into a resi/comm mixed use)? maybe perhaps Frasers should move Muji, Donki or Daiso over as anchor to save Century Square? afterall, it should be easier to attract tenants for Tampines 1.

What's happening to Tampines Central?
12years ago, i always joked that if Kinokuniya & Zara opens a store in Tampines, i would no longer need to go Orchard for shopping. however, this statement is no longer valid. that's why i'm always curious why would people who do not reside in Tampines want to come here for shopping & dining, as all the shops/eateries in Tampines Central can be found elsewhere. there is literally no shop or food outlet that is unique to Tampines & the crowd/Q is always insane. i think Changi City Point, Bedok Mall, malls in Paya Lebar Central & Jurong East (JEM & WestGate) has much more uniqueness to offer than Tampines Central.

shopping malls & physical stores are not exactly dying. instead, the shopping experience is evolving. it is the rental that is killing businesses.

guess the steep rental is stopping new names from setting up stores in Tampines. with its huge catchment, i'm surprised that Apple, Samsonite and Love Bonito (quite popular among ladies) does not have a branch in Tampines. Crumpler, Superdry, asics / Onitsuka Tiger, Calvin Klein, etc. does not have their presence here too.

food wise, there is no Greendot, Tsui Wah, Beauty in the pot, Shake Shack, Maxx Coffee, Huggs Coffee, Flash Coffee, Coffeesmith, Matchaya, Tsujiri, Baskin Robbins, Au Croissant, Curry Times, Collin's, Poulet, or Tung Lok cai png in Tampines Central. City Hot Pot and Fong Sheng Hao also rather open their latest outlet at Sengkang Grand Mall than here...

furthermore, Under Armour, Royal Sporting House, Baleno, Paris Baguette, Chicken Up, Menya Musashi, Yoshinoya, Spotlight, etc. exited and never return... it is also quite interesting and ironic to note that while the big (& more popular) names are leaving or avoiding Tampines Central, the cheapo shops are sprouting up here. i do wonder how these shops survive.

i do hope the 3 malls of Tampines could buck up & return to its prime.

In response to the consecutive closure of Crystal Jade Hong Kong Kitchen (one of the pioneer tenant of Tampines Mall), Fish & Co, Barcook Bakery, Hot Star Large Fried Chicken, Mahota Kitchen etc. within the past few months.

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