Crowds, clearance sales, memories as Mustafa Serangoon Plaza bids farewell

SINGAPORE — It was the penultimate day of operations at Mustafa’s Serangoon Plaza wing, and the crowds made it a farewell with a bang.

While the upper floors had been sealed off and emptied out, the first floor was filled with goods at clearance prices.

Items such as bedlinen, clothes, luggage and toiletries were on sale, some with steep discounts and attractive promotions.

Shoppers packed the space, some rummaging through heaps of cotton shirts and others loading their baskets with body wash and shampoo.

There were long check-out lines and rows of trolleys as the cashiers and packers worked swiftly to ease the queues.

The Serangoon Plaza store will close tomorrow. After demolition, a 19-storey complex called Centrium Square will be built in its place, comprising offices, medical suites and retail stores. While Mustafa’s main store, along Syed Alwi Road, will still be in operation, some shoppers lamented the loss of an era, as Mustafa has been a Serangoon Plaza tenant since the mid-1980s, gradually expanding its retail space in the building.

Retiree Shadrak Stephen, 68, said he had “grown up with Mustafa since day one”, having lived in the area when he was younger, and that the Serangoon Plaza branch held special meaning to him and his wife, who was with him yesterday.

Mr K Siva, a 45-year-old manager, said the store has been “an icon” for him and many shoppers. “When you mention Little India, people think of Mustafa,” he said.

Others, like Mr Osman Ahmad, said the old store will be missed. “The newer store is squeezier,” he said.

Some younger shoppers, meanwhile, said options were still available at the main store.

Ms Louise Ho, 29, said the closure of the Serangoon Plaza branch was “not good news, but I’ll still go to the (main store) for shopping sometimes”.

On the preparations for the closure and move, Mr Muhamed Batcha, who has been with Mustafa’s jewellery department in Serangoon Plaza for around 17 years, said any unsold stock would be moved to the main building.

Business of late has been brisk, noted Mr Haja Mohideen of the bag deposit and customer service department, especially over the festive season.

None of the employees will be out of a job, Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin managing director Mustaq Ahmad told TODAY. Employees from the Serangoon Plaza store — 180 of them, out of Mustafa’s staff strength of 1,650 — will be and have been transferred to the main store.

Still, some of them will miss the place they call home. “It holds a lot of memories for me,” said Mr Mohideen, his hands looping a cable tie around another shopper’s bag. ALFRED CHUA