No respite in sight for S'pore retailers<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore retailers battling fierce
\ncompetition for shopping dollars in a tight consumer market saw
\nno turnaround in sight yesterday after just-published sales
\nfigures showed dismal growth in 1995.<\/p>\n
Retail sales rose just 1.5 percent over 1994 to S$24.08
\nbillion (US$17.2 billion) last year, thanks partly to strong
\nconsumer spending over the Christmas holidays, according to the
\nStatistics Department.<\/p>\n
December sales were up 9.6 percent over the previous month.<\/p>\n
Lawrence Elms, regional general manager of the International
\nCouncil of Shopping Centers here, said the extremely modest 1995
\nsales growth -- on top of 1.3-percent expansion in 1994 --
\nconfirmed the retail sector was not out of the woods.<\/p>\n
\"I agree with the sentiment that things are not likely to
\nchange remarkably,\" Elms said. \"There can be no immediate respite
\nfrom what is seen to be a difficult retail climate.\"<\/p>\n
The retail slump, compounded by soaring rentals, increasing
\nshopping space and a decline in tourist spending blamed on the
\nstrong Singapore dollar, has seen the island turn from a
\nshopper's heaven into a shop-owner's hell.<\/p>\n
Retailers say Singaporeans' spending on shopping has declined
\nin favor of investments in durable assets like cars and private
\nhousing.<\/p>\n
\"If retail stores are able to achieve this year what they did
\nin 1995, they will be able to give themselves a pat on the back,\"
\nsaid Gerard Cheng, a senior executive with Isetan department-
\nstore chain here.<\/p>\n
French retailer Galeries Lafayette is winding down its
\nSingapore operations after deciding not to renew its lease in
\nOrchard Road, among the world's 10 most expensive streets for
\nretail rents.<\/p>\n
Also last month, Japanese retailer Seiyu scaled down its
\nfirst-year turnover projection of $115 million for its flagship
\nstore here by 10 percent because of stiffer-than-expected
\ncompetition.<\/p>\n
The island's largest department store, Takashimaya, reportedly
\nexpects sales growth to slow this year because of greater
\ncompetition after an estimated eight-percent increase in turnover
\nto $304 million last year.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong retail house Lane Crawford drastically reduced its
\nretail space here as its Singapore operation ate into its
\nbottomline.<\/p>\n
Analysts said the competition, which saw many retailers
\nrelease balance sheets steeped in red ink last year, was becoming
\nmore intense as new shopping malls rise up at home and in the
\nregion.<\/p>\n
Some 2.1 million square feet (189,000 square meters) of retail
\nspace was completed here in 1995, and 5.3 million square feet is
\nscheduled to enter the market between 1996 and 1999, according to
\na report by property consultant Edmund Tie and Co.<\/p>\n
It said the strong Singapore dollar ate into local retail
\nearnings, making it more expensive for tourists to shop here and
\ncheaper for Singaporeans to shop overseas.<\/p>\n
Tourist spending has also declined amid competition from such
\ncountries as Malaysia and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"The region has grown up,\" said Elms. \"It has got its own
\nshopping centers now. Singapore as a regional shopping center is
\nno longer as appealing as it once was.\"<\/p>\n
Investment house Salomon Brothers warned that tourism may be
\nhit as a result of a deepening German recession and signs that
\nU.S. economy may continue to slow in the first half of 1996.<\/p>\n
\"Political and economic uncertainties in Malaysia and Thailand
\nin 1996 may also reduce the flow of tourists on a regional
\n'spending spree' in Asia,\" it said in a recent report on the
\nretail sector.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-respite-in-sight-for-spore-retailers-1447893297",
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