Hao Mart shuts stores, sinks deeper into losses with four High Court lawsuits looming
Its website lists 20 outlets in Singapore, but only seven are operating
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[SINGAPORE] Supermarket and minimart chain Hao Mart has shrunk its network of outlets as it sinks further into the red, according to checks by The Straits Times.
Hao Mart’s website on Apr 22 lists 20 outlets in Singapore, but only seven are operating when ST visited all the listed locations over a two-week period in the second half of March.
Latest records filed with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) obtained by ST also show the company’s losses have worsened for three consecutive years.
The home-grown chain reported a S$49.6 million loss for the financial year ending Mar 31, 2025 - the latest available figures which were belatedly provided to Acra in January. This amount is up from S$32.8 million in the preceding year and S$23.2 million in the year before.
Acra said in response to ST queries in March that it has taken enforcement action against Hao Mart for failing to submit its annual returns within six months after the end of its financial year.
While the regulator did not specify the penalty, its website states that late submissions could incur fines of S$300 or S$600 depending on the length of delay.
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Hao Mart is also currently facing four legal battles at the High Court, including a dispute with landlord OG over the lease termination of its flagship Taste Orchard shopping mall in Orchard Road.
Hao Mart did not respond to ST’s queries sent on Apr 3 about the scaling down of its operations and financial situation. Subsequently, a spokesman told ST on Apr 23 to contact the company’s legal counsel.
Shrinking footprint, some outlets still popular
Based on previous cached versions of Hao Mart’s website, there were 46 stores in December 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic. The footprint peaked at 51 stores in December 2021 before falling to 38 in December 2022.
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When ST reported in January 2024 on Taste Orchard operating at the former OG Orchard Point building in Somerset, the supermarket chain reportedly had 28 outlets islandwide.
ST checks showed that Hao Mart only has seven outlets in operation as at Mar 30.
These include six regular Hao Mart stores, located in Bedok South Avenue 3, Canberra Link, Potong Pasir Avenue 1, Petir Road, Whampoa Drive and Pasir Ris Street 21; and one premium Eccellente outlet in Marina Square shopping mall.
Seven other Eccellente supermarkets are listed on Hao Mart’s website as operating in malls and condominiums - including Taste Orchard, even though the mall is currently closed. These have all since shuttered.
Among the outlets that ST found to be closed, four have been replaced by Hao Mart’s rivals.
Sheng Siong has taken over the space previously occupied by Hao Mart in Punggol East and the Kinex Mall; ValueMart is operating at Hao Mart’s former premises in Punggol Walk near Waterway Point; and newcomer ACE Signature is occupying one of three shophouses in Geylang that previously housed Hao Mart’s minimarts.
Of the remaining two in Geylang, one is now a coffeeshop and the other had been torn down in September 2024 for reconstruction into a 5-storey building.
Its former mini-mart in Redhill Road is now a tuition centre.
Hao Mart’s mini-mart in Bayshore Park Condo has been replaced by an outlet run by large-scale Indian supermarket chain Sri Murugan, while an after-school care centre has taken over its shopfront that faces the driveway of Parksuites condo.
A previous outlet in Far East Plaza is now a food court and a travel agency is operating from Hao Mart’s previous basement space in Esplanade Xchange.
In East Village, Hao Mart’s supermarket has been replaced by a gym.
When ST visited the seven outlets that are operating, it found most of the shelves well stocked with steady streams of customers.
But staffing appear to be inconsistent: Some outlets were staffed by small teams with uniforms, and a handful had just a cashier at the till.
In Canberra Link, a resident who was at Hao Mart’s 24-hour mini-mart when ST visited on Mar 29 said that the store, which has been operating for about 10 years, is popular with residents.
“This (Hao Mart) mini-mart is next to a Singapore Pools outlet, a clinic and a coffeeshop. I come here to have breakfast, buy Toto, pick up groceries and when I am sick,” said the retiree in Mandarin who gave his name as Mr Tan.
The store in Pasir Ris Street 21, which is listed as the sole outlet under Hao Mart’s “halal hub” brand, had the “halal hub” portion of its signage painted over in green, possibly indicating the discontinuation of a retail concept which Hao Mart pioneered in 2018 to cater to Muslim customers.
The company has an Instagram account under the username Hao Halal Hub, with slightly over 2,150 followers. Its most recent post was in August 2022.
At its peak before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the brand reportedly had 14 Halal Hub outlets in Singapore.
The Taste Orchard move was Hao Mart’s boldest since it started its first minimart in Whampoa in 2016, which is still operating.
Hao Mart launched a five-storey concept store at the former OG Orchard Point building in Somerset, signing a 7½-year lease commencing September 2023 as the master tenant of a retail space measuring over 150,000 sq ft. This is equivalent to more than 30 basketball courts or two football fields.
Hao Mart then leased out spaces to food and beverage operators while keeping three levels - basement 1 to level 2 - for its upmarket Eccellente supermarket selling groceries, household products and international food items.
But the Orchard Road venture turned sour some 18 months later. In September 2025, the Taste Orchard lease was terminated by landlord OG.
The mall has since been handed back to OG and is currently undergoing reinstatement works, the department store operator told ST on Apr 6. It did not comment on whether a new master tenant had been found.
In the red since 2022
After narrowing losses since Hao Mart started reporting its financial results in 2018, the chain turned a corner during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Net profit doubled from S$1.9 million for FY2021, to S$3.5 million the following year, while maintaining steady revenue of over S$110 million.
Hao Mart’s business took a sharp turn in FY2023 when it incurred a loss of S$23.2 million, of which S$21 million was attributed to administrative and other expenses. Meanwhile, revenue had also fallen to S$84.2 million.
Its losses continued to widen over the following two years and revenue, which was already on a decline, also fell to its lowest at S$11 million in FY2025.
Hao Mart is a fully-owned subsidiary of parent company Hao Corp, which is an investment holding firm solely owned by founder Dr Tan Kim Yong.
Dr Tan also runs a separate electronics manufacturing business, Advanced Integrated Manufacturing, which was listed on the Singapore Exchange until 2017.
Hao Mart’s financial reports also show that it may be reducing the scale of its operations.
Its manpower costs - wages, Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions and foreign worker levies - were around S$5.1 million in FY2025, down from S$8.8 million in FY2024 and S$10.4 million in FY2023. This typically indicates that a company had reduced its workforce.
In describing the Taste Orchard venture in its FY2025 financial report, it said the company has incurred substantial operating losses primarily due to the under-utilisation of the Orchard Point premises; increased competition in the vicinity which resulted in weakened customer traffic; and overall deterioration in supermarket performance in the post-Covid-19 environment.
The company had “unexpected renovation costs” of around $5 million. “These additional works caused significant delays and further strained the company’s internal cash flows,” it said.
But Hao Mart also noted a silver lining. The cessation of the Taste Orchard operation will significantly improve cash flow management for the company’s remaining supermarket outlets, as those operate on a smaller and more manageable scale with the “continued working capital support” of sole shareholder Dr Tan.
The Acra filing showed that Dr Tan had in the reported financial year refinanced a mortgage loan of around S$18.4 million “through a personal facility”. No further details were given.
The supermarket also said in the filing that additional funds would be made available to support the company subject to the successful disposal of his other business interests and assets.
The filing did not spell out what these interests and assets are, but ST understands that Dr Tan is seeking to sell several bungalows that he owns.
One bungalow in particular, 17 and 19 Jervois Hill, is central to the dispute over Taste Orchard mall between Hao Mart and the landlord OG.
This is because the Good Class Bungalow (GCB), jointly owned by Dr Tan and his wife, was pledged as security for OG’s S$66.2 million loan extended to Dr Tan, according to court documents.
The property had previously been featured by local media for its distinctive feng shui-inspired design of the number eight.
Property ownership checks showed that Dr Tan owns seven other properties, four of which are co-owned with his wife.
Speaking to ST via phone on Mar 30, Dr Tan confirmed that he owns five bungalows in Sentosa Cove, another GCB at Jervois Road and one GCB lot at Jervois Hill down the road from Villa Otto.
Dr Tan confirmed that he is trying to sell his Jervois Road property and Jervois Hill lot, and that he is “waiting for the right buyer”.
The Jervois Road GCB has been on the market for at least a year, after being first listed online in April 2025 with an asking price of S$55 million.
The Jervois Hill plot, on the other hand, was first put up for sale in February 2024 for S$53 million, based on information on property portal EdgeProp.
Dr Tan’s five Sentosa properties, which were initially “bought as investments”, have been on the market for at least five years. One of the bungalows is currently being rented out.
He had bought four plots of land parcels at Cove Drive and Cove Grove from Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of the Sentosa Development Corporation, between the years 2003 and 2008 when the land parcels were released for sale in batches. Bungalows were then built up on the land parcels.
Dr Tan has another bungalow on Pearl Island at Sentosa Cove’s District 4, which was unsuccessfully put up for sale by auction in 2017, according to EdgeProp.
Dr Tan, who declined to comment on business matters related to Hao Mart, added that he took out a loan for the Sentosa properties and is paying interest on the loan.
Four High Court lawsuits
Court documents revealed the state of Hao Mart’s finances leading to Taste Orchard’s opening.
According to OG, Dr Tan had requested OG for assistance in the form of collateral loans of S$18 million to S$21 million for the “working capital needs” of Hao Mart and Taste Orchard, stating in the court documents that Dr Tan had said “Singapore banks were not willing to lend on new businesses that do not generate profits”.
OG agreed to a S$66.2 million loan and a mortgage over 17 Jervois Hill and 19 Jervois Hill was created.
In October 2025, a month after Taste Orchard’s tenants were notified of their eviction from the mall, OG sued Hao Mart for S$6.6 million for allegedly breaching its lease agreement, including S$5.6 million in principal arrears for rent.
According to OG, Hao Mart failed to pay S$9.3 million in rent from January to November 2024, and also sublet parts of the mall’s premises without its approval, court documents showed.
Hao Mart denied all of OG’s claims. In its counterclaim, it accused OG of breaching an oral agreement between the two parties, and sought S$3.5 million in losses suffered.
The case is one of four lawsuits that Hao Mart is battling in the High Court, and all of them are still in the pre-trial stage.
Hao Mart’s first legal battle came in August 2025, when it filed a lawsuit against a wholly owned unit of real estate agency PropNex and one of its agents, alleging misrepresentation in the leasing of the Taste Orchard premises.
Hao Mart alleged that the agent, Tan Ban Aik Michael, had falsely claimed of securing an eight month-rent free period for the supermarket chain. The supermarket said in court documents that it had subsequently suffered losses as its takeover of the premises was delayed due to additional renovation costs to ensure compliance with the building code.
Hao Mart said it had to pay rent while being unable to fully operate its business.
The agent, who previously worked with Hao Mart to secure leases on its other outlets, had also allegedly promised to sell one of Dr Tan’s properties so that he could raise capital for the Taste Orchard lease, but this did not come to fruition.
Hao Mart is seeking S$3.5 million and other damages against the agent and PropNex. The defendants are contesting Hao Mart’s claims.
In January 2026, Dr Tan, his wife Teo Siew Ling and Hao Mart sued OG and its in-house lawyer Adam Nicholas Emilianou - who is also the husband of a shareholder of the department store operator - for S$57.5 million, alleging in court documents that the two defendants had conspired to cause loss to the three claimants by damaging Hao Mart’s business.
Both OG and Emilianou have denied the claims, countering that Hao Mart had breached the terms of its lease agreement and owed the department store operator S$73.5 million by October 2025.
The fourth lawsuit was filed in January by beauty salon operator Belovie, a former sub-tenant of Taste Orchard, to sue Hao Mart for an alleged breach of contract arising from the termination of its lease.
Belovie claimed it had suffered losses of over S$445,000 due to the renovation and fit-out works of its unit, as well as expenses incurred on furniture and equipment. This marks the first sub-tenant of Taste Orchard to take legal action against the master tenant.
Hao Mart is contesting the suit, claiming that sub-tenants would have already accepted the risk of lease termination for whatever reason, upon signing the tenancy agreement.
While Hao Mart’s diminished store footprint may not be apparent to the general public, its social media activity had been muted since last year.
The supermarket has 4,700 followers on Instagram, 11,700 on Facebook, and a Telegram group called Hao Friends which has some 400 subscribers.
Based on ST checks, the last message on the Telegram group was sent in February 2024, while Hao Mart’s last Facebook post on Jun 25, 2025, promoted a Japan-themed event at Taste Orchard.
On Instagram, the company still describes itself as “your friendly grocer, with over 30 outlets islandwide.” Its last post, dated Sep 11, 2025, similarly advertised a Mid-Autumn Festival Japan Fair at Taste Orchard from Sep 12 to 14.
On Sep 15, news broke that Hao Mart’s lease at Taste Orchard had been terminated. Tenants said they were informed via letters from Hao Mart’s management that were dated Sep 12 and delivered on the same day.
It is unclear whether the Japan Fair went ahead. But since then, Hao Mart’s social media accounts have gone silent.
Timeline: Hao Mart’s 10-year-journey in Singapore
2016: Dr Tan Kim Yong registers Hao Corp as a company. The first Hao Mart store opens at Block 74 Whampoa Drive (above).
2019: Hao Mart files its first financial statement for the financial year ended Mar 31, 2019, with a loss of S$2.2 million.
February 2020: Hao Corp buys a two-storey ramp-up warehouse building in Changi South Street 1 from Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust for S$20.3 million, which serves as its headquarters. At the time of the sale, the 19-year-old building had a remaining land lease tenure of about 37 years.
2021: The supermarket chain hits its peak of 51 stores in Singapore. In November, it signs a 7½-year lease with OG to be a master tenant at the former Orchard Point building.
March 2023: Hao Mart posts a loss of S$23.2 million for FY2023, after turning profitable for the previous two financial years.
August 2023: OG agrees to loan S$66.2 million to Dr Tan to fund Taste Orchard’s opening, which has been delayed by six months from the original rent commencement date of February.
Early 2024: Taste Orchard officially opens, months after the amended rent commencement date of September 2023 in Hao Mart’s lease agreement.
December 2024: Hao Mart stores have dwindled to 20, according to its website.
August 2025: Hao Mart sues PropNex Realty and one of its agents for S$3.5 million.
September 2025: OG terminates Hao Mart’s lease, and all of the mall’s tenants are required to vacate the premises by Dec 31.
October 2025: OG sues Hao Mart for S$6.6 million, claiming the supermarket chain had failed to pay rent from January to November 2024 amounting to S$9.3 million. Hao Mart files a counterclaim of S$3.5 million.
December 2025: Taste Orchard officially closes and is handed back to OG.
January 2026: Hao Mart, together with Dr Tan and his wife Teo Siew Ling, sues OG for S$57.5 million, claiming the department store operator “conspired” to damage its business. One of Taste Orchard’s sub-tenants files a lawsuit against Hao Mart for breach of contract. THE STRAITS TIMES
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