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SINGAPORE – The day after Robinsons announced it would be closing its two stores at The Heeren and Raffles City Shopping Center, shoppers continued to arrive in droves.
By Saturday (October 31), even before the store opened at 11 a.m., a queue of about 300 people had formed outside the Heeren store on Orchard Road.
Markings on the ground outside the main entrance to The Heeren indicated that shoppers should keep 1m away.
The queue stretched past the Apple Orchard Road store next door, snaking several times through the empty space in front of the mall.
When the doors were opened, shoppers were seen entering the store in an orderly fashion and many checked-in SafeEntry in advance.
Robinsons announced on Friday (October 30) that it would close its two stores in The Heeren Mall and Raffles City, as well as two stores in Malaysia. He said the appointed liquidators are in negotiations with the owners in Singapore, but expected to remain open “for the next several weeks.”
The retailer, which employs about 175 employees here, said it plans to do its best to transfer them to other brands under the parent company, Dubai-based Al-Futtaim Group, which owns other franchises, including Marks & Spencer and Zara.
Marketing manager Mr. Kai Foo, who joined the queue outside The Heeren, told ST that he and a friend were here “for fun” and didn’t have a shopping list.
He plans to check out the Men’s Clothing section on the fourth level to see if he can find Jeffery West shoes that he thinks can only be found locally at Robinsons.
About half of the shelves in the Women’s Shoes section on the second level of the Heeren store were empty when ST visited at 11.30am.
Shortly after Robinsons said on Friday (October 30) that it will close its two remaining stores, promoters were seen packing their products to ship back to their warehouses after the brands that hired them told them to.
[[nid:507141]]Ms Winnie Teo, 35, who is a promoter for the sheet retailer Uneo ekohome, was at The Heeren this morning with two drivers to pack her brand’s remaining stock to be delivered to her warehouse.
Ms Teo, who has spent 10 years working at various Robinsons outlets, said rumors were already swirling among promoters about the impending store closures two months ago.
He is not worried about being out of work, as his supervisor confirmed yesterday that affected staff will be reassigned to other retailers that stock the brand’s products.
“We started packing the sheets around 5pm yesterday. By then, many customers had already purchased four to five sets of bedding each, ”he said.
Even on Saturday, shoppers were undaunted, with up to 30 people lining up at the second-floor cashier to make payment for their purchases.
