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Heartland shops aren’t what they used to be
The rise of beauty and wellness businesses in these civic centres could make them less useful to a broad swathe of the community.
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With the rise of suburban malls and changing consumer habits, heartland shops began to lose some of this function of a third place.
ST FILE PHOTO
Lee Nai Jia
Singapore’s heartland shops were never just commercial centres focused on the transactions of essential goods and services. Though these centres were built to serve those practical needs, they also anchored daily routines and community interactions.
Over time, however, with the rise of suburban malls and changing consumer habits, heartland shops began to lose some of this function of a third place – where the neighbourhood would gather and where certain shops or features formed a common experience and a core part of community memory.
