SINGAPORE: Singapore is one of the most preffered locations for new brands coming into Asian countries, with top names like Eric Ford, Cath Kidston and Ugg jostling for a slice of the prosperous retail pie here.
Singapore's work as a gateway into the growing Oriental market and its thriving tourism ramo also make it an attractive destination for the very top labels.
But the crowded malls found on Orchard Road and their glitzy facades hide a bleaker picture.
Set-up players complain of rising costs in addition to the falling profits, and big names are blessed with faced shrinking profits.
It looks started be a tough year ahead about retailers in Singapore.
Tight a new labour policies and low interest at the hands of locals to work in the sector afectación a challenge to retailers seeking to staff or family helpers their outlets.
The UAE-based Al-Futtaim group comprises the Robinsons ensemble -- which owns the Robinsons department store, John Little and Represents & Spencer -- and sports activities activities activities merchandise store Royal Sporting Asset, along with several franchise stores, like fashion brand Zara.
It spoken it is becoming extremely difficult to locate front-end staff, which accounts for 75 per cent of its entire workforce.
Kesri Singh Kapur, head of Asian countries at Al-Futtaim, said: "In a final two to three years, the cost of people adjusted up by as much as 30-odd per cent, and now we have not been able to sustain the at all.
"Today, the environment is such that are not able to give enough, and more, in order to the consumers. It is also negatively affecting the way we are performing in our stores; we are literally short of heads during these stores. "
Industry observers rough that supermarket retailers are also going a shortage of labour by about 10-15 per cent.
Manpower costs aside, offices are also seeing their margins acquiring squeezed by rising rentals.
Industrial sectors participants said this might reduce the use of Singapore's retail space.
Jannie Chan, president of the Singapore Corporations Association, said: "Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand... are also increasing their shoe wholesales space, they are becoming our competitiveness.
"Their rentals are still very cheap, they have no labour shortage... when you compare Singapore. Our rentals from REITs are still increasing 5 per cent annually. "
Mounting costs are planting pressure on the industry where superior retail sales at current quotes, excluding motor vehicles, rose by just - 0 per cent last year compared to the summer 2012.
Meanwhile, experts have highlighted more shopping centres are coming up from suburban areas, which could ease pressing on downtown malls.
But more expensive retailers, typically situated in prime may well, may still face high homes for rent.
Douglas Benjamin, group chief activating officer of FJ Benjamin, spoken: "Even though there has been a rather cash increase in space, it doesn't mean basic market size has increased in the matching accordance with that increase in space, including led to a lot of pressure on in a single square foot yield that outlets face in their stores.
"Orchard Correct road being the prime shopping belt and many of the land in Orchard being built already, there is not a lot of A-grade supply coming on board, so perchance prime space will continue to tell it to the high rentals they are commanding. inches
Nonetheless, industry analysts observe that a great deal large, popular brands are access into stores in suburban malls, that creates them more accessible to shoppers, and might help to ease crowd congestion in the course of peak periods along the main Orchard Road shopping district.
