Century Square reopens on June 6 after S$60 million facelift

SINGAPORE — Following a S$60 million makeover, Century Square shopping mall in Tampines will reopen on Wednesday (June 6), nine months after it closed its doors for refurbishment work last September.

Aside from a new facade and interior, the 210,000 square foot, six-storey mall will offer amenities and features such as free WiFi, bike stations with shower facilities, an e-doodling wall for shoppers, and a roof terrace.

Over 65 per cent of its 160 shop units are occupied by new tenants, including American sportswear and footwear retailer Foot Locker, and relaunched home-grown fashion label M)phosis — whose trademark was bought over by local apparel retailer Decks after its high-profile closure.

Seventy-five per cent of the 136 occupied shop units will begin business when the mall opens on Wednesday, and more tenants are expected to open by the end of August, said mall operator AsiaMalls in a media release on Tuesday.

Visitors to the mall will get more food options, with 45 food and beverage outlets available, including popular hotpot restaurant Hai Di Lao, and anchor tenant Mahota, a hybrid dining and grocery outlet.

Other eateries such as chicken rice chain Boon Tong Kee, dumpling stall Kim Choo Kueh Chang, and Thai restaurant Nakhon Kitchen are also opening their first shopping centre outlets at Century Square.

The other anchor tenants replacing BHG department store and NTUC Fairprice Finest supermarket include Filmgarde Cineplex, 24-hour gym operator GymmBoxx, household kitchenware retailer and lifestyle store ToTT (Tools of The Trade), enrichment centre The Learning Lab, and Food Junction.

Mr Ong Kee Leng, AsiaMalls' executive director said: "When you are in a mall in the heartlands, you grow with the mall and have fond memories created. We want to bring back that sense of belonging."

"We have many opportunities to connect with the community and (for them to) come here and bond and connect. This is something you can't get online."

Familiar Century Square tenants such as Soup Restaurant and Universal Optical have returned to the mall, while Food Junction will reopen under a new farm-to-plate concept, The Food Market by Food Junction, which will allow customers to choose a variety of fresh produce to be cooked on the spot.

Ms Irin Lau, 37, head of marketing at Soup Restaurant, said many of their customers are "looking forward to our return".

"We have been here for many years before (Century Square) renovated, and many of our regular customers would actually visit our Changi Airport Terminal 1 outlet when we were closed for renovations."

Ms Karen Chua, 52, who works as an optician at Universal Optical, said that it was a "fresh" experience to be back at the refurbished 23-year-old shopping mall.

"I have been working here for 21 years already and the facelift this time is very different from previous renovations, which were minor," she said.

For 69-year-old Tampines resident Boo Fong Hiong, the overhaul was long overdue. She said: "The old (Century Square) wasn't exciting. I preferred going to Tampines 1."

Century Square is the third shopping centre operated by AsiaMalls to undergo refurbishment. In 2015 and 2016, Tiong Bahru Plaza and White Sands completed their respective renovations, which led to a registered 20 to 25 per cent increase in traffic, said Mr Tan Kee Yong, managing director of AsiaMalls Management.

The mall operator, however, has no plans as yet to refurbish its other two properties, Hougang Mall and Liang Court.

Mr Tan added: "With this successful execution and implementation of Century Square, we definitely will be looking the opportunities to unlock the value for both (Hougang Mall and Liang Court), but it is premature to commit at this point."