With Robinsons closing, what lies ahead for its peers?

The pandemic, in accentuating the shortcomings of physical retail, may speed up their decline, say market observers

Published Fri, Oct 30, 2020 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

THE imminent closure of Robinsons, one of the oldest homegrown names in Singapore, has put a question mark over whether other department stores may find themselves in its shoes, as they continue to fend off competition and e-commerce.

Particularly, the coronavirus pandemic, in underlining the shortcomings of physical retail, may speed up their decline, said market observers. Data from Euromonitor has shown that department store sales in Singapore are expected to fall by a five-year compounded annual growth rate of 1.7 per cent from S$2.6 billion in 2019 to S$2.3 billion in 2024, led by store and selling area contraction.

Yet, operators that spread themselves out over other businesses, such as property, instead of relying solely on the department sto…