For those who grew up in Singapore, you’ll remember (quite fondly) a time when Far East Plaza was the coolest hangout on Orchard Road. In its golden years since opening in 1982, it was a teen shopping haven, a place where you could buy affordable clothes and cheap meals. Unfortunately, now it’s just a sad shell of what it used to be.
Walk around the mall and you’ll find multiple stores empty and displaying ‘For Lease’ signs. The eateries get quite crowded during meal times, and the nail and hair salons still see a good amount of regular customers, but the clothing shops aren’t faring as well.
Out of the 600 units in Far East Plaza, about 30 are vacant, and they usually remain that way for three to six months. Some tenants prefer to stay on due to cheaper rental rates and flexible opening hours, but with customers increasingly finding more reasons to shop online, the future of the mall seems uncertain.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of the story stated that Far East Plaza opened in 2002 — the inaccuracy has been revised.
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