ST 11/12/2006: Sunny forecast for retailers at Sunset Way

STEP aside, Holland Village. Sunset Way is shedding its quiet and sleepy image - and emerging as the next up-and-coming food and beverage (F&B) hot spot.

The neighbourhood centre, which comprises 50 shops from Block 105 to 109 in Clementi, close to Ngee Ann Polytechnic, is set for a major revamp which will change its landscape, increase the variety of shops, and see a new stretch of cafes, restaurants, alfresco dining and possibly even pubs.

Retail consultant Tan Puay Hoon of Bole Business Services, who is spearheading the upgrading project, hopes it will be the 'next Holland Village' with its lively, trendy cafes and nightspots.

For more than a year now, 13 shops at Block 106 in Sunset Way have been boarded up. Shopkeepers closed their businesses after being selected for the first batch under the restructuring programme.

Under the scheme, first announced last March, tenants who choose to close shop receive an ex-gratia payment of $60,000 - if more than half of the shopkeepers in a block opt to quit. The space is then earmarked for conversion to social communal spaces or void decks.

Resident Lina Chua, 35, said it was a pity the stores had closed, as she missed the shopkeepers and the services they provided. This included a small grocery store, a family clinic and shops which sold dried foodstuffs, incense, paper money and more.

'Now that they've left, this area is so quiet and nothing has been done for more than a year,' she added.

The owner of a drinks stall at the Block 107 foodcourt, who wanted to be known only as Madam Wu, said businesses were suffering as human traffic had decreased.

Ms Tan, a consultant for the Sunset Way Trades Association (SWTA) with 11 years' industry experience, told The Straits Times that market research and surveys showed that the shops were old and needed a new lease of life.

A Housing Board spokesman confirmed that it was working together with the SWTA on implementing the plans. Property consultant Knight Frank has also been appointed to look for suitable tenants in the next two months.

The new mix of stores will cater to a growing number of young couples, middle-income households and expatriates in the community.

Mr Jeffrey Chok, 48, owner of a Chinese medicine shop at Block 107A, said he was looking forward to the changes and believed it could be an attractive alternative to Holland Village.

'F&B is the right direction to go. People will come and our businesses will improve. I like competition - the more the merrier,' he said.

The revamped neighbourhood centre will also be enhanced when upgrading works begin at Sungei Ulu Pandan - the river located next to Sunset Way - under the $23 million Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters Programme.

'We're looking at ways to revitalise Sunset Way so that residents will be better serviced,' said Mr Christopher de Souza, an MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

Some changes are also expected among the existing retailers. A spokesman for the trade association said members were willing to participate in training workshops and upgrade their shops.

Ms Tan was hopeful that residents would start to see results by the first quarter of next year.

*cough* This is your turf, homeboy. And it's nearly past the first quarter - where are the results?

Maybe it's just as well, homeboy. I'm not impressed with the recent efforts to 'spruce' up neighbourhood malls - there are flops aplenty, and the only ones that got richer was the people that was hired to spruce 'em.

Who is this Bole Business anyway?

ST Dec 22, 2005
Remake HDB retail districts?
Tan Hui Yee

...

The idea is to have professionals organise regular promotions, retail training and upgrading projects for the Housing Board shops, just like the shopping centre managers do.

Both Mr Wong and Ms Tan Puay Hoon, whose firm Bole Business Services advises merchants in Hong Kah Point, Sunset Way and Tampines, have done surveys to find out what people really want in their neighbourhood centres

Hmm. This was part of an article about consultants being hired to "manage" and improve the shopping experience at heartland areas.

I'm not sure they've got a great track record, homeboy. And I'm not sure they're doing their survey too good - why didn't they come to me? I could've told 'em - this ain't here a second Holland Village. You know why?

We got a real Holland Villge - just down the road. We've even got a fake Holland village - inside Sunset way. This here place is a family zone.

What we do have is loads of petshops and vet clinics. This is pet-central for the West zone, and you can't move for the doggie poo. That's where all the business is being generated right now.

Homeboy - you been home recently?