Snaking queues at Robinsons day after news of closure

SINGAPORE - The day after Robinsons announced it would close its two stores at The Heeren and Raffles City Shopping Centre, shoppers continued to show up in droves.

On Saturday (Oct 31), even before the store opened at 11am, a queue of some 300 people had formed outside the Heeren store in Orchard Road.

Markings on the ground outside the main entrance of The Heeren indicated that shoppers should stand 1m apart.

The queue stretched past the Apple Orchard Road store next door, snaking around the empty space in front of the mall several times.

When the doors opened, shoppers were seen entering the store in an orderly fashion with many doing their SafeEntry check-in in advance.

Robinsons announced on Friday (Oct 30) that it would close its two stores at The Heeren and Raffles City Shopping Centre, as well as two stores in Malaysia. It said the appointed liquidators are in negotiations with the landlords in Singapore but it hoped to stay open "for the coming weeks".

The retailer, which employs about 175 staff 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.

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Marketing manager Mr Kai Foo, who joined the queue outside The Heeren, told ST that he and a friend were here “for the fun” and did not have a shopping list. 

He plans to check out the Men’s Wear section on the fourth level to see if he can find Jeffery West shoes which he believes can only be found locally in Robinsons. 

About half the shelves in the Ladies Shoes section on the second level of the Heeren outlet were empty when ST visited at 11.30am. 

Shortly after Robinsons said on Friday (Oct 30) it will be closing its two remaining stores, promoters were seen packing up their goods to send back to their warehouses after they were told to do so by the brands that hired them.

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Ms Winnie Teo, 35, who is a promoter with bedsheet retailer Uneo ekohome was at The Heeren this morning  with two drivers to pack up her brand’s remaining stock which will be delivered to their warehouse. 

Ms Teo, who has spent 10 years working in various Robinsons outlets said that rumors were already swirling amongst promoters about the impending closure of the stores two months ago. 

She is not worried that she will be out of a job as her supervisor confirmed yesterday that affected staff will be redeployed to other retailers which stock the brand’s products. 

“We started packing up the bedsheets at about 5pm yesterday. By then, many customers had already bought four to five sets of bedding each,” she said. 

Even on Saturday, shoppers were not deterred, with as many as 30 people queueing at the cashier on the second storey to make payment for their purchases.

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