Some John Little, Marks & Spencer stores to close

SINGAPORE — John Little stores in Marina Square and Tiong Bahru Plaza will close this year, the Al-Futtaim Group, which runs the franchise, announced today (March 12).

The Marina Square outlet will close on April 26 and the one in Tiong Bahru will shut its doors in the last quarter of this year.

The move will allow it to focus manpower and resources on enhancing service standards at the department store’s remaining two outlets in Plaza Singapura and Jurong Point, said Al-Futtaim in a press release.

The Dubai-based group runs stores under the Robinsons Group, including the Robinsons department stores, John Little and Marks & Spencer.

Al-Futtaim also announced changes to the other two brands.

The Marks & Spencer outlet in Centrepoint will close on March 29, the company said, in a bid to “consolidate resources and focus on the remaining nine stores island-wide”.

The Marks & Spencer stores in The Paragon and Raffles City will be revamped next year.

Robinsons Raffles City will also undergo renovation in phases, starting from the beginning of next year, the company said. The facelift will see the store “taking on a contemporary look with accents influenced by local heritage”, it added.

Describing the moves as a business recalibration, Al-Futtaim said they are “not an exercise in cost-saving or downsizing”, but part of its ongoing strategy to “ensure the long-term sustainability of businesses” so that they can serve customers and stakeholders better. CHANNEL NEWSASIA