Isetan has announced that its Tampines Mall store will close later this year. Hasn’t it been a matter of time?

After nearly 30 years, Isetan has announced that it will close its store in Tampines Mall. So unexpected the news is that the Japanese media covered it. This would be their third store closure in the past five years after the ones in Westgate (2020) and Parkway Parade (2022). Tampines Mall announced the impending closure of the two-storey Japanese store through its Facebook page with an oddly joyous message, sharing that, while they are “incredibly thankful for the wonderful partnership and cherished moments”, they are eager for “an exciting new chapter”. Accompanying that message is a cheery, pink graphic with the text: “Exciting transformation coming your way soon.” It appears that CapitaLand property can’t wait for Isetan to shutter or does not regret losing an anchor tenant that has been with the mall since day one, in 1995.

Media outlets here were quick to share, with barely any hint of regret, the news of Isetan shutting down. Residents of the estate are not surpised that the only depatrtment store left in the whole of Tampines will soon close. Some has said, “amazingly, they took so long.” At the entrance of the store this afternoon, a couple was seen looking at the standees, hoping to see an announcement of massive markdowns. One of them was heard saying, “Huh, where got close-down sale?” when he was meet with “Promotions This Week” instead. Inside, it was busier than usual. Given the sudden increased foot fall, it is clear that most were looking for a bargain. Regrettably, this Isetan store has become a space that attracts what one long-time resident called “budget shoppers”.

When it opened, Isetan was considered a “decent” department store. That was so because their only competitor in the estate then was Kmart, the American purveyor of “discount shopping”, opened in the neighbouring Century Square. Kmart had partnered with Metro to debut their first and only store in the east, but the joint venture could not take the beating of a bleak retail landscape in the second half of the 1990s. It closed two years after it opened. The space was taken by BHG (Beijing Hualian Group) from China. They, too, could not win the heart of shoppers, and closed in 2017, at the same time Century Square underwent its first renovation since opening in 1995, just a few months earlier than Tampines Mall.

Isetan was better positioned as it was seen as a spot of Orchard Road in the heartland. Shoppers found it fairly rewarding to visit back then because they could find products, including Japanese kitchenware, that you would not normally be able to score in Tampines. But, Isetan was somehow lax in their merchandising as the years went by, and was dependant on tenants in the largely leased space to stock what is perceived to be saleable. There was no major renovation of the store, and it gave off the vibe of a retailer that has lost its way more than 20 years ago. At the store this afternoon, one middle-aged shopper told us that she only visits when she needs to buy bedsheets and “only when they have a sale”.

Isetan can be considered one of the oldest department stores on our island (they opened in 1972). They certainly are the oldest among the Japanese players here, which included Yaohan (1974 to 1997), Daimaru (1983 to 2003), Sogo (1986 to 2000), Tokyu (1987 to 1998), Seiyu (1998 to 2000). But, there is, in fact, an older Japanese retailer although they were not strictly a department store—the fabric shop Echigoya (1907 to 1977) in Middle Road. But Isetan was the swankiest among them all, and quiet the fashion leader when they debuted here with four floors at the Apollo Hotel in Havelock Road and then at Liat Towers in Orchard Road for their second store, before that closed that to make way for the space in Wisma Atria. The store in Shaw House opened in 1993, when they decided to shift out of Apollo Hotel.

Isetan Tampines was not their first store in a heartland mall. Parkway Parade was where they initially courted the crowd visiting malls away from Orchard Road. But Isetan Tampines then catered to a ‘younger’ demographic as the housing estate was, at the time, populated by young families. Those people grew up and the young replacing them no longer found department stores alluring. Isetan Tampines did not dramatically remake itself. They let it retain the ambience and layout of the mid-’90s. And did not allow the merchandising to reflect the prevalent moods that the shoppers were variously experiencing. In the mean time, other Japanese stores moved into the neighbourhood, namely Muji and Uniqlo.

Japanese department stores have had a hard time surviving outside their homeland, especially in southeast Asia, in the past 20 years or so. Singapore alone is a good example of the number that have entered the market and left. In Southeast Asia, Isetan opened in Bangkok, Indonesia, and Kuala Lumpur. The sole Bangkok store—in CentralWorld—ceased operations in 2020, after 28 years there. Inexplicably, Isetan operates their SEA stores without any semblance to their Tokyo flagship in Shinjuku, often considered Japan’s best department store, even the world’s. While it could be said that the strategy has been to cater to local consumers, the seeming lacklustre merchandising in their SEA stores led some to believe they have been “dumping down”.

To be fair, Isetan did try to strengthen their image and branding, at least in Kuala Lumpur. In 2016, at their Lot 10 store, they reimagined the space, which they occupied since 1990, as Isetan: The Japan Store. It was not only visually appealing, it saw augmented selection of Japanese merchandise to the rave of the locals. Some Singaporeans were hoping that Isetan here would attempt something similar here, but it was not to be. Although Isetan Scotts, their flagship, underwent a major renovation some years ago, no discernible difference was seen. They did try to introduce some measure of excitement in their merchandise mix, such as availing—although briefly—the Japanese label Fresh Delivery and indie menswear brand Digawell at their now-defunct iEdit corner, for examples, but the overall approach to merchandising has been conservative, at best. That Isetan could come this far was considered amazing by industry watchers. But despite its seeming longevity, the stores here could be just coasting along.

Photos: Chin Boh Kay