Dhoby Xchange flop: SMRT should re-examine its approach

I read with empathy that Dhoby Xchange was a flop. More importantly, packed along with the shops as they close their shutters are broken dreams of possibly young budding entrepreneurs.

My partners and I were one of the few hundred who tendered for one of the shop lots. Before that, we had met up with SMRT's appointed marketing agent, who was reputable in the retail sector, to find out what the tenant mix SMRT intends to attract so that we could pitch our concept to secure the tender.

We did not place high bids as we were sceptical that given SMRT's concept, there would be throngs of shoppers. On the first failed bid, we met up with SMRT to present our proposal in the hope that SMRT would revise its concept. Our proposal was submitted together with our second bid and also in an e-mail.

We felt that the location was excellent, given the ready captive audience - commuters who had to take the train come rain or shine. So the emphasis is to have a tenant mix built round the needs of the commuters most of whom do not have deep pockets.

Forget about the upmarket trendy shops trying to attract shoppers from elsewhere or even fighting for a slice of the Plaza Singapura shopping crowd. Citing examples of the shops at SMU, where business is pathetic, did not help either. We are disappointed that our proposal fell on deaf ears and more so at SMRT's high-handed approach.

Train stations in big cities round the world feature humble shops that cater to the everyday needs of commuters like hot dog stands, newsstands, shoe repair shops and florists. There are no big labels to boast of, trendy shop decor or glitzy advertisements to draw the crowd. They are just focused on serving the needs of the commuters.

Tenants should not be blamed for the predicament of the mall. It is the tenant mix that draws the crowd, not the individual shops. If the mall fails to attract the crowd then SMRT should re-examine its approach in resolving the problems than merely adopting a draconian approach of relying on legal recourse.

Elaine Hong Wai Leng (Ms)