RETAIL veterans Isetan and Metro will expand in the coming year, at a time when many of their counterparts around the world are biting the dust.
The two department stores, each with three outlets, are setting up new outlets in the heartland – after years of standing pat.
Japanese chain store Isetan will open its first outlet in 14 years at Nex, an upcoming mall in Serangoon Central, next year. Locally owned Metro will have a 56,000 sq ft outlet in City Square, the mall in Little India, by September – this coming after it closed two stores in the last four years.
The moves fly in the face of what is happening elsewhere, where department stores are doing anything but expanding. The recession has already felled the weaker players in the United States, Japan and parts of western Europe. Continue reading
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