Closure of stores leaves online vendors in the lurch

The closure of The Blog Shop's stores has left a few online vendors with losses that add up to thousands of dollars each in rent, deposits, sales money and stock. These include (from left) Ms Sherene Hong, 23, and Ms Justina Chua, 23, from Running Thread, and Ms Ang Yuan Mei, 19, who runs apparel store Black Pockets. -- ST PHOTO: NURIA LING

At least five online vendors have been left out of pocket after the closure of The Blog Shop's three stores.

The company shut them down between October and December last year, leaving several vendors with losses of a few thousand dollars each.

The Straits Times spoke to five vendors, who say they lost about $17,100 among them. Each claimed to have lost between $2,000 and $4,600 in rent, deposits, sales money and missing stock.

The store concept was the brainchild of Mr Clarence Chew, who started his business in Haji Lane in 2009. He had the idea of opening a physical retail space where online shops, or blogshops, could display and market their wares, in this case, clothes and accessories for women.