A John Little booth in a night market near Woodlands MRT station -- PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
BIG-NAME retailers Popular Holdings and John Little are stomping on new turf - night markets in the heartlands.
Several pasar malam are now hawking their merchandise - items ranging from children's books from Popular's distributor companies to toiletries, household items and other daily essentials from the department store giant.
These retailers began putting their goods within strolling distance of the suburban homes of their customers from about a year ago, expanding the variety of wares on sale. Many of these booths are open even in the day.
Consumers like it. Engineer Philip Chia, 43, who was at a John Little booth in a night market near Woodlands MRT Station with his son, said: 'Now I can come to a pasar malam, buy something to eat and shop for department-store items.'
Night-market operators say they need to see this kind of renewed interest among consumers, given that the ongoing recession has put a dampener on their business.
Some told The Straits Times that business has shrunk by 30 per cent to 40 per cent, forcing them to cut back on the frequency and length of night markets, which run for between 16 and 30 nights on average.
The move to bring in the big boys has given new life to Mr Ivan Ho's May Hua Trading, a major player in running these night-time bazaars.
For him, having Popular and John Little in means he gets a few more booths set up and rented out. Other night-market operators say they will also consider getting big retailers in.
The strategy is not without its kinks. Mr Alan Toh, who heads the 100-member Trade Fair Merchants' Association of Singapore, pointed out that the merchandise from established retailers has 'a certain image among customers', jarring against night markets' long association with inferior-quality goods - a reputation overdue for a change.
Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.
