After 174 years, John Little will bring down the shutters in Singapore

SINGAPORE — By January next year, John Little — said to be Singapore’s oldest department store — will close its last remaining outlet in Plaza Singapura, 174 years after it set up shop here.

Amid the onslaught from e-comerce, the Robinsons Group said in a statement on Friday (Nov 4) that the brand would evolve into a pop-up format, with more details to be announced next year. A pop-up format usually involves the opening of short-term sales spaces.

A tenant in Plaza Singapura since 2013, the store is holding a moving-out sale until it closes on Jan 2.

The decision to shut shop was made after "evaluating the relevancy and sustainability of the John Little brick-and-mortar business", the group said. "John Little will instead evolve as a brand into a pop-up format, which is in line with the global trend for retail businesses," it added.

Owned by the Al-Futtaim Group, which is headquartered in Dubai, the Robinsons Group manages Robinsons, John Little, as well as Marks and Spencer.

Previously, Al-Futtaim said that it would shut 10 loss-making stores this year as it restructured its Singapore operations. Last year, the closures included the Marks and Spencer at Centrepoint, John Little at Marina Square and Tiong Bahru Plaza, and some Royal Sporting House outlets.

The curtains-down for John Little at the Orchard Road mall is part of consolidation efforts to focus on businesses that are growing, and to re-channel resources to bring in new brands and shopping concepts, the Robinsons Group said.

Employees affected by the closure have been briefed and the company is in the midst of deploying them to other suitable businesses within the group.

John Little is named after storekeeper John Martin Little and had its beginnings in 1842, in what is now Raffles Place. Only 14 years ago in 2002, there were seven outlets here. Patrons remember the brand for its good selection of children’s products and clothing for more mature women.

Ms Adeline Tan, 35, a communications executive, said that she used to visit John Little’s Marina Square outlet for baby items. She last stepped into the Plaza Singapura branch about a year ago, and found its range to be lacking in appeal and "not cheap" to boot. The store had a good range of vitamins, but those could also be found in Robinsons, Ms Tan said.

Mother-of-two Eileen Lee, 38, said that she visited John Little last year, when her daughter was taking piano lessons at the mall. She went "direct" to the children’s section because of the "good selection" of clothes there for home and daily wear and they were "of a good price", she said.

John Little’s range of beauty and skin products was also quite good, she added, but "if I do browse the fashion range, it’s because I’m with my mum".

"We all know how competitive retail business is," Ms Lee said. "Even I have switched to apps to do shopping. It’s just faster and sometimes they have special online discounts."

A Plaza Singapura spokesperson said that the mall is in discussions with a number of retailers interested in taking over the 38,000sqf space on the first level.

Now undergoing some improvement works, the mall will have upgraded lift lobbies, washrooms and nursing rooms by the end of this year.