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SINGAPORE – British retailer Marks & Spencer will close its store in the Raffles City Mall on December 31, but its 10 other stores across the island will remain open.
The update comes after the company placed an ad in The Straits Times on Thursday (December 10) about a “moving sale” at its Raffles City store.
In the ad it said that there are discounts of up to 70 percent on their items. The closure of December 31 will end 34 years of operation at the site.
“Marks & Spencer remains fully committed to the local market and continues to explore growth opportunities for our business in Singapore. We are continually enriching our product and service catalogs, and are eagerly seeking ways to advance our business with store updates.” the retailer’s spokesman told The Business Times on Thursday.
Both Marks & Spencer and Robinsons are part of the Dubai-based Al-Futtaim group, owned by Emirati tycoon Abdulla Al Futtaim and run by his son Omar, according to Forbes.
In October, Robinsons announced his departure after 162 years of operations in Singapore. It has continued to keep its last two stores open in The Heeren and Raffles City to close sales.
Its liquidators told BT that Robinsons’ flagship store at The Heeren will close on December 16, but said they are still in talks with the Raffles City owner.
The Marks & Spencer branch in Raffles City is the only one to close as the lease was signed under Robinsons, BT reported.
When The Straits Times visited the store around 6.30pm Thursday, there was no queue to enter the store, which had sales signs at the entrance and in many locations in the store.
Ms. Marilyn Ng, who works in the financial sector, was there with her husband to buy clothes.
Ms. Ng said she was doing some Christmas shopping in the area and came across the sale at Marks & Spencer.
Ng, who is 40, said that she has been shopping at Marks & Spencer for about 20 years and that she buys clothes and food from the retailer regularly.
Regarding the moving sale, Ms. Ng said she didn’t find it unusual as it is the holiday season and many stores are bidding.
Store personnel said the department store just moved out of the Raffles City outlet, but it will not close, and the other stores will remain open.
The retail chain had opened a pop-up store on the first floor of Waterway Point in Punggol in late October, which will operate for six months.
Marks & Spencer also said it had no intention of closing its thriving Singapore business.
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