SINGAPORE — Century Square, the oldest of three malls in the heart of Tampines, will shut in September for about a year for a major facelift. This will be its first big makeover since it opened in 1995, having undergone smaller-scale renovations in 2008.

The works are set to be completed in the second quarter of next year.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, Mr Tan Kee Yong, managing director of AsiaMalls Management, which oversees the mall, said that the refurbishment would refresh Century Square’s offerings and improve the shopping experience.

Patrons told TODAY that the revamp was overdue, citing the mall’s ageing facilities and how its offerings pale against those in nearby shopping centres, Tampines Mall and Tampines 1. Business has also slowed over the years, some tenants said.

AsiaMalls did not go into the specifics of the facelift, but is expected to unveil its plans at a press briefing next month. The 200,000 sq ft mall has about 125 stores, and among the mall’s anchor tenants are department store BHG, supermarket FairPrice Finest and electronics retailer Best Denki.

Mr Katsuharu Inamoto, BHG Singapore’s managing director, said that the department store — which opened there nearly a decade ago — will close at the end of this month. He said that it has built a “very loyal” customer base in Tampines through its loyalty programme, and will keep in close contact with its members.

FairPrice Finest, which has been a tenant since 2009, will stay open until Aug 9. Both BHG and FairPrice did not say if they would return after the facelift, only that their customers could continue shopping at their outlets elsewhere.

Another tenant, aromatherapy product retailer Purity Haven, is looking to relocate to a pushcart at Tampines 1, also managed by AsiaMalls. Owner Tony Tan, 57, has built relations with regular customers since the shop opened in 2014. However, footfall at the mall has dropped, he added, and business has tumbled between 25 and 30 per cent this year.

At eyewear shop Universal Optical — one of Century Square’s first tenants — business has also slowed 10 to 20 per cent over the last decade owing to increased competition, its director Stella Kok said. She is in discussions with the mall’s management, and hoping to return to its present first-floor unit. “This (shop) is my (late father’s) baby … I’ll miss this place,” she said.

Information technology consultant Thinzar Wai, 35, who shops regularly at FairPrice Finest and children’s department store Kiddy Palace, said that “out of all the malls here, (Century Square) is quite old”.

Deputy manager Aaron Kok, 54, said that Century Square “requires a renovation, definitely, and also (needs) a good mix of tenants”.