On Monday (26 Aug) department store Metro announced that it was closing its 6-storey flagship store at The Centrepoint on Orchard Road next month.
This comes five years after it first became the mall’s anchor tenant.
After the Centrepoint outlet is closed, Metro will have 2 stores left in Singapore – one at Paragon, and the other at Causeway Point.
Metro is Singapore and Indonesia-based, and was founded by businessman Ong Tjoe Kim in 1953.
The first Metro opened in Singapore at Liat Towers on Orchard Road in 1965, and was one of the first Singapore department stores to carry imported designer goods.
Metro currently has outlets in Singapore and Indonesia.
Said a Metro spokesman: “In recent years, Metro has been rationalising its retail business in response to changing market conditions […] Metro continues to focus on its core businesses of retail in Singapore and Indonesia, together with property investment and development.”
Metro Pte Ltd was publicly listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 1973, and has ventured into credit leasing (with Trans-Pacific Credit Pte Ltd) and also co-founded luxury brand retailer chain The Hour Glass in 1979.
It is reported to have property investments in China, Japan, and UK and also retail properties in China and Indonesia.
Retailers and sales staff at The Centrepoint that The Straits Times spoke to speculated that low footfall at the mall may have influenced Metro’s decision to leave.
Tenants like Crystal Jade Kitchen, Times Bookstore, TianPo Jewellery, and The Better Toy Store have either moved out, or in the process of moving out from the mall.
Decathlon Opens First Store In Orchard Road Shopping District
Just one day after the announcement of Metro Centrepoint’s impending end, a spokesperson for Frasers Property Singapore shared that French sporting goods chain Decathlon will be taking over the position of anchor tenant.
The new Decathlon outlet is slated to open in the first half of 2020, and aims to offer an “immersive and activity-based concept”.
Some examples of this include virtual simulations and augmented reality (AR) components that will let shoppers try out products in an “environment that simulates real-life conditions”.
Decathlon Singapore’s managing director Nils Swolkien added that Decathlon at The Centrepoint will “host regular active lifestyle events such as yoga and zumba classes”.
They are also looking to “collaborate with various sports agencies, academies and experts to hold regular sports demonstrations, interactions, and talks within the mall”.
Decathlon opened its first outlet in Singapore in 2016, and currently has 6 outlets here.
Apart from the upcoming outlet at The Centerpoint, it will also be opening a new click-and-collect store at Waterway Point in Punggol.
