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Traditional minimarts navigate cost challenges and reinvent themselves
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Mr Toh Hong Aik (left) managing director of Ume Holdings, at a Umart store in Yishun.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
SINGAPORE - Minimarts are feeling the chill as rising costs and manpower shortages hit them on one front while the big guns FairPrice, Dairy Farm International and Sheng Siong keep muscling into their heartland markets.
March retail data showed sales at minimarts and convenience stores fell 6 per cent year on year, while supermarkets and hypermarkets recorded a 9.3 per cent increase.
