A cornerstone of Singapore’s retail legacy has fallen victim to modern mediums of commerce, and is closing its shutters for one last time after 174 years in operation.
Department store John Little will soon close their only remaining outlet in Plaza Singapura come January 2017. How the mighty hath fallen!
First established in 1845 by John Martin Little in Raffles Place (yes, it even survived the Japanese occupation), the chain is the oldest department store in Singapore. Time however hasn’t been kind to the brand, with developments such as e-commerce and a shift in shopping trends towards more boutique items making it tough for John Little’s tradition brick-and-mortar business to sustain itself.
Robinsons Group, who manages John Little, however has assured that the brand will stay alive. They’re planning for John Little to evolve into a pop-up format, which isn’t too far fetched as they always had big turnouts in their convention sales at the Singapore Expo.
Perhaps it’s for the better too. John Little’s former major stores have been slowly closing since nearly a decade ago. Their outlets at White Sands and Specialists’ Shopping Centre shuttered in 2007; their Tiong Bahru Plaza store was closed last year due to poor business; their Marina Square store closed due to building renovation works. Only their Plaza Singapura branch remains. That is, until Jan 2, 2017.
Right now, you can celebrate the John Little legacy in the most Singaporean way possible — massive discounts in a final moving-out sale.
