SINGAPORE — Robinsons has started an "everything must go" closing down sale at its last two stores at The Heeren and Raffles City Shopping Centre, a week after it started a liquidation process to stop its business operations for good.

The storewide discount applies to its fashion, beauty, homeware, accessories and travel products, the retailer said in a statement on Friday (Nov 6).

“Everything has been reduced and must go, including brand-new stock still arriving as warehouses are emptied,” it said.

It added that the sale will last until all the stock has sold.

The 162-year-old department store, one of Singapore’s oldest, said last Friday that it has started a liquidation process of its remaining stores due to weak demand stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. It had closed its outlet at Jem mall in Jurong earlier in August.

Robinsons has yet to specify a date for when it would close its two stores. It said that the liquidators are hoping the stores will remain open “for the coming weeks” to facilitate final sales for customers.

With no certainty on when the doors will shut for the last time, hundreds of shoppers have been thronging the stores over the past week. Many shelves, however, have since been emptied after suppliers pulled their products out of the store.

Snaking queues formed, especially over the last weekend, with some middle-aged and older shoppers visiting out of nostalgia and others hoping to use their remaining shopping vouchers.

The shock announcement also left some of its partners in the lurch, TODAY reported earlier, with suppliers worried that they may never get back hundreds of thousands in sales proceeds. 

Customers who have ordered mattresses from Robinsons were left wondering as well about whether their purchases will be honoured or delivered, with some registering their complaints with the Consumer Association of Singapore.

The appointed liquidators, KordaMentha, said in a Facebook update on Thursday that customers who have ordered mattresses from Sealy, Simmons, Serta and King Koil — which cost upwards of S$2,000 — and have paid in full can expect their orders to be delivered.

Those who have made payment for mattresses with MaxCoil should approach their bank to cancel their payment and redirect their purchase to MaxCoil. 

“We remain in ongoing discussions with other suppliers and will continue to provide updates to affected customers as and when available,” the liquidators said.