Business is slowing down for the remaining tenants as former anchor tenant Borders leaves a gaping space at Wheelock Place.
(Drop in Wheelock shoppers as tenants wait for new anchor. Image courtesy of mailer_diablo.)
Stationery shop Ri Stationers, which was banking on the paper-loving crowd that trawled chain bookstore Borders when it opened just four months ago is one example. Owner Ms Kathleen Loi spoke to The Straits Times of her dilemma, “Borders was one of the reasons that I chose this location. Business was just picking up. Now, without an anchor tenant, there are fewer people.”
Borders moved into the Wheelock premises in 1997, a year after luxury department store Lane Crawford rolled down its shutters. At its peak, Borders saw thousands of shoppers a week, and helped draw in other popular and upmarket retailers like Apple products seller EpiCentre and bag brand Crumpler.
Loi is not the only one waiting on a new main tenant. Others in the 17-year old mall, ranging from cafes and restaurants to apparel and sports retail outlets and aesthetic and medical clinics, are hoping a new retailer will quickly fill the void and pull the crowds back in.
Despite relying on regulars and referrals, SkinLab Medical Spa said it expects up to 10% loss of business. Others are less fortunate. Store manager of second-storey shoe shop Substance Ms Ayuni Sulaiman said, “Weekdays have become very quiet. Sales have fallen by about 50%.”
Analysts say the departure of an institutional retailer such as Borders inevitably means a decrease in the number of shoppers, adding that things should pick up once a suitable new tenant is found. They also doubt that Wheelock Place will end up struggling like fellow Orchard district shopping mall The Heeren, when it parted ways with then main tenant, music store HMV.
Said Mr Danny Yeo, property consultancy Knight Frank’s group managing director, “I don’t see why Wheelock should suffer in any way. It’s located at a prominent corner of Orchard Road, and is linked to Ion Orchard, Shaw Centre and Tangs via an underground passage.” Another point raised by Mr Ong Kah Seng, Asia-Pacific senior research manager at Cushman & Wakefield, is the mall’s good mix of food and beverage, retail and lifestyle tenants.
Besides location, connectivity and tenant mix, Wheelock Place has one more trump card to tide the troubled times: 31,000 sq ft of ground floor vacant space. It is kind of space that retailers covet, observed Ms Lee Siew Ling, associate director of retail at Jones Lang LaSalle. Referring to the current retail trend of fashion brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and H&M taking up large, prime units, she said, “The large vacated space presents an opportunity for the landlord to refresh Wheelock’s positioning by bringing in a similar-type anchor, be it fashion or other trades.”
There may, in fact, be a silver lining to this dark cloud. The landlord can use this opportunity to bring in new retailers like international brands that are not currently available in Singapore, said Ong.
A Wheelock Properties spokesperson was unable to comment on the mall’s plans for the future. “We will take time to assess and evaluate the options that best suit the positioning and overall trade mix for the building,” he said.
Meanwhile, Loi and other tenants can only hang on and wait. Said Loi, “I would prefer if they bring in another anchor tenant, one that can draw the crowds.”
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