Uniqlo sees Singapore as regional gateway

Uniqlo sees Singapore as regional gateway

By NISHA RAMCHANDANI

JAPANESE fashion brand Uniqlo is already planning its fourth store in Singapore - as it launches its largest store here today.

‘Singapore will be the gateway to the South-east Asian region. Singapore is very significant strategically.’

- Fast Retailing Group COO Naoki Otoma

‘Singapore will be the gateway to the South-east Asian region. Singapore is very significant strategically,’ chief operating officer of Fast Retailing Group, Naoki Otoma, told BT in an interview yesterday.

Uniqlo’s parent company is fashion retailer Fast Retailing, which also carries Comptoir des Cotonniers and Princesse tam.tam.

In fact, the stores in Singapore have helped pique the interest of potential business partners, who have since approached Uniqlo with the intention of opening similar stores in their home countries.

Uniqlo has plans to open at least five more stores in Singapore within three years, in areas such as Marina Bay, Orchard Road as well as farther out, at suburban malls. The fourth store is likely to be open by next year, Mr Otoma said.

Response to Uniqlo’s first two stores in Singapore - at Tampines 1 and Ion Orchard, which collectively saw an investment of $60 million - has been ‘overwhelming’ and ‘better than we expected’, said Mr Otoma. The two stores managed to break even within six months of opening.

Uniqlo’s stores in Singapore are a joint venture with Wing Tai Retail.

The latest addition covers 17,000 sq ft - the largest in South-east Asia as well as Singapore - and opens its doors today at the new 313@Somerset mall.

Today also marks the official opening of the eight- storey 313@Somerset, which was 100 per cent leased four months ahead of schedule.

Despite the challenging global economy, an aggressive expansion strategy is necessary, Mr Otoma feels, especially since Asia has become the centre of economic growth.

‘We need to take risks to be the dominant player in Asia, to capture the market,’ he said.

Uniqlo also has stores in the US, UK, France, Hong Kong, China and Korea.

And now that it has established itself in Singapore, it is looking to enter Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and Australia.

Source : Business Times - 03 December 2009

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6 whole floors sold at Marina Bay Suites preview

6 whole floors sold at Marina Bay Suites preview

Buyers include Indonesians, Singaporeans and other Asians

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

ABOUT half a dozen floors at Marina Bay Suites changed hands at last week’s preview of the project, BT understands.

Mr Tan: Some 87 of the 90 preview units have been sold. The 87 units sold fetched close to $400m
The buyers of the whole floors are understood to be Indonesians, Singaporeans and other Asians.

Some of them bought through companies. The foreigners are believed to be Singapore permanent residents.

In absolute terms, the biggest transaction was close to $45 million, involving at least two floors. The buyer is understood to be an Indonesian party.

Market watchers estimate that it could have cost buyers between $17 million and $18 million to purchase a whole floor at the 99-year leasehold condo based on prices at last week’s preview.

Each floor has four apartments - two three-bedroom units and two four bedders. The total saleable area per floor is slightly under 8,000 square feet.

Thomas Tan, head of marketing (residential) at Raffles Quay Asset Management (RQAM), told BT yesterday that 87 of the 90 units released for the preview have been sold.

The 87 units fetched close to $400 million, he added.

Two thirds of the units were sold to Singapore residents (including PRs). The remaining one third was sold to non-PR foreigners, including Indonesians, Malaysians, mainland Chinese, Australians and Americans.

‘We do have multiple-unit buyers, but due to client confidentiality and privacy reasons, we are unable to reveal such information,’ Mr Tan said when asked about purchases of entire floors.

RQAM is the asset manager for Marina Bay Suites, which is being developed by a joint venture involving Hongkong Land, Keppel Land and Cheung Kong Holdings.

Mr Tan declined to give details about pricing except to reiterate that ‘the average price range was between $2,200 psf and $2,500 psf’. BT understands that on an average basis, the 90 units were priced at close to $2,300 psf.

However, the range at which the apartments were sold could be about $1,800 psf to slightly over $2,600 psf.

Mr Tan said that the apartments released were from the seventh to the 40-plus floors of the 66-storey development.

The 221-unit project comprises 218 three or four-bedroom apartments and three penthouses. Currently, the plan is to begin construction of the project sometime in the first half of next year, Mr Tan said.

‘We have no immediate plans to release more units for the rest of this year but we’ll continue to register interested buyers. We’ll monitor the market and determine the price at the time of launch.’

Source : Business Times - 03 December 2009

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MINDY YONG

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Singapore gets Google panoramic boost

Singapore gets Google panoramic boost

Google launches its highly anticipated Street View service, promising a boon for travellers and businesses here, reports ONG BOON KIAT

STREET scenes along nearly all public roads in Singapore are now available as ground-level digital panoramic images, and one can take a virtual tour through it with a PC or mobile phone.

On the go: Mobile users can use the service via the mobile version of Google Maps, and navigate using their handset’s controls

Called Google Street View, the service was launched in Singapore by the US search giant yesterday, making the Republic the fourth Asia-Pacific country after Japan, Australia and New Zealand to get this highly-anticipated service.

To use the service, one simply clicks on an orange-coloured clothes peg-like icon - dubbed Pegman - at the Google Maps website and drags it onto a desired part of the Singapore map to bring up a corresponding panoramic view. Users can then navigate and zoom within a 360-degree horizontal and 290-degree vertical view.

Mobile users can use the service via the mobile version of Google Maps, and navigate using their handset’s controls.

At the launch yesterday, Google executives called the service a boon not only to travellers, but also to companies because it gives them a new and visual way to reach out to consumers.

‘Imagine all the great uses of Street View here, from promoting tourist hotspots to hunting for property to educating students about historic buildings, and of course, getting directions and searching for businesses,’ said Google’s head of product management for South-east Asia, Andrew McGlinchey.

Organisations can tap into Street View by putting a business listing on Google Maps or embedding Google Maps directly into their websites - both for free.

There are now ‘tens of thousands’ of local business listings on Google Maps, said Google’s head of marketing for South-east Asia, Derek Callow. The number includes lists provided by portals such as Makansutra and Hungrygowhere, as well as those auto-generated from Google’s search index.

Mr Callow urged businesses in Singapore to hop on and take advantage of Street View. ‘Obviously, our aim is to get every single business to Google Maps - and I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to, because it is free.’

At yesterday’s launch, Spectrum Worldwide - owner and organiser of the OCBC Cycle Singapore event - announced it will be using Street View to let participants virtually cycle the routes before the event, which takes place in March next year.

Property portals iProperty.com and PropertyGuru are also incorporating the service into their respective portals.

It has been a busy past month for Google in Singapore. Street View follows the debut of the Singapore version of Google Maps two weeks ago, which features traffic information from the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

First launched in the US in 2007 and now available in over 100 metropolitan areas across the world, Street View is another prong in Google’s vision to organise and harness the world’s information. The free service benefits Google by bringing in more Web traffic to boost the company’s core business of selling search-related advertisements.

Since last October, Google has been snapping pictures along Singapore’s roads using specially modified cars.

It also sought the Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) help for information and advice on Singapore’s landmarks. According to Google, nearly all of Singapore’s public roads have been covered.

Street View has drawn both plaudits and privacy concerns since its debut. While it gives travellers a dramatic and visual way of finding and discovering places, some have criticised the all-seeing service for breaching people’s privacy.

To mitigate privacy concerns, Street View only contains imagery that is already visible from public roads and blurs both people’s faces and vehicle licence plates. Users can also ask Google to remove images they consider inappropriate.

Google said it will be updating its data for Singapore next year, which should incorporate several major upcoming landmarks like the integrated resorts.

Next year should also see a different set of panoramic scenes added, which will show locations not accessible by cars. In October, Google started using a tricycle - which it dubbed the Trike - to collect such images in various parts of Singapore. They will come online next year, Google said.

Source : Business Times - 03 December 2009

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MINDY YONG

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Expats find Singapore a tad more expensive

Expats find Singapore a tad more expensive

S’pore moves up 3 spots to 9th position in Asia: survey

By JOYCE HOOI

(SINGAPORE) IT is not all cheap hawker food and iPods for expatriates who are based in Singapore.

The latest Cost of Living survey from ECA International has given expatriates here a stronger case to make when lobbying company headquarters for a larger expense package.

This year, Singapore climbed three spots - from 12th - to be the ninth most expensive Asian city, having been on the receiving end of both rising inflation and a strengthening Singapore dollar.

This makes Singapore a more expensive city to live in than Taipei, Shenzhen or Guangzhou.

Japanese cities dominated this year’s rankings in Asia, with Tokyo ranking first, followed by Yokohama, Nagoya and Kobe.

While Hong Kong remain more expensive than Singapore at fifth place, the gap in the cost of living has narrowed, from 15 per cent last year to 7 per cent this year.

‘While such increases are unlikely to deter companies from relocating staff to Singapore, the cost of doing do is now higher than it was a year ago,’ said Lee Quane, regional director of ECA International for Asia.

‘Companies employing international assignees are likely to be paying higher cost of living allowances to ensure that their employees continue to maintain their purchasing power while on assignment.’

Singapore’s cost of living is put into better context from a global perspective, with the island ranking only 78th this year. Even so, this represents a quantum leap in rankings, from its 97th position last year.

Globally, Luanda in Angola remained the most expensive city, with Tokyo and Oslo in second and third place respectively.

ECA International’s Cost of Living survey is carried out twice a year, comparing a basket of consumer goods and services commonly purchased by assignees in over 390 places globally.

While the survey includes items like food, clothing and motoring expenses, it does not take into account other living costs like accommodation, utilities, car purchases and school fees.

These expenses tend to make the expatriate bill significantly larger but are often compensated for in separate expatriate packages, according to ECA International.

Source : Business Times - 03 December 2009

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MINDY YONG

( +65 ) 91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com