Big Brand Retail Outlet Closing e.g. BODS/Bodynits, A & F (compiled)

[Tim Lee]

A & F is way overpriced and BODs quality sucks . 
Guess not many people wear A & F these days as it is passé now .

Just my 2 cents worth .

😀

[mate69]

go for comfort in sg's hot, sticky and humid climate

go for giordano and hang ten lah...so comfy and simple/chic

simi anf holiister rubbish etc - all no need to waste $$$$

save $$$$$

[bigdanbeam]

Which next better player  will take ower the A&F spot? 

 

Superdry next to go?

[Guest Anf so so so gay]

Anf muscle tee nowadays where got ppl still want ro wear? Now all go for oversized cutting. Their branding is Passé, too obvious and ppl dun like to be associated with air heads or worse, teenage air heads! Among their fragrances only Fierce and Fierce Confidence can make it. All the other flankers smelled either cheap or boring. But they are all overpriced, and 90% of their products are overpriced junks with ostentatious branding and teenage hothead associations. Not cool anymore especially when you are an adult. Even teenagers also don't want to look like that anymore!

[Guest Shocking]

Bods bodyknits? You mean until now they are still around????

 

Which ghosts have been supporting them since 2000s?

[upshot]

On 4/5/2021 at 10:05 PM, doncoin said:

 

For those old enough. remember Tangs Studio? It was a more upscale design driven concept store created by CK Tangs. Originally at Scotts, then they moved to Ngee Ann city. Tangs Studio used to have a section filled with local designers which I think is pretty cool. 

 

The funny thing is with regards to Bods/Bodynits, the first time i actually saw their stuff was in Teenage magazine. I recall, they had the male models in these spandex/skin tight lycra suits etc. which the editorial spread tried to make it fashionable, i.e. athletic wear, which obviously were too avant garde for its time then. 

So many brands before they went mainstream or average shopper know their name, Tang Studio was the first to bring them in... use to hang at Scotts Building (or was it another name?) That was a period where so much of creativity fashion design was at its most expressive...between late 80s to 90s. 2000 was the start of decline and also cheaper street stuff start to rise and big boutique brands started getting niche, downgraded or gone.

[Guest Haiya]

Haiya u guys ah..buy those branded shirts for what..use not even one year also chabge again...save money la 好心 invest better...just buy e mart or any cincai shirt wear ..as long as comfy ok d..nowadays not easy earn money

[doncoin]

3 hours ago, upshot said:

So many brands before they went mainstream or average shopper know their name, Tang Studio was the first to bring them in... use to hang at Scotts Building (or was it another name?) That was a period where so much of creativity fashion design was at its most expressive...between late 80s to 90s. 2000 was the start of decline and also cheaper street stuff start to rise and big boutique brands started getting niche, downgraded or gone.

 

I bought my first Dolce & Gabbana at Tangs Studio. It was a white mesh tanktop. I also bought my first Diesel jeans there.

 

Fast fashion is creating a lot of trash unfortunately. 

[upshot]

2 hours ago, doncoin said:

 

I bought my first Dolce & Gabbana at Tangs Studio. It was a white mesh tanktop. I also bought my first Diesel jeans there.

 

Fast fashion is creating a lot of trash unfortunately. 

Ya those were the days where a number of brands from Europe and the Staes was coming in. Guess Jean was also  coming from Tangs Studio, so was Yohgi Yamamoto, Issey Miyaki, Comme des Garçons, JPG, Missoni, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, Destroy, Charles Jordan, Gianfranco Ferre, Paul Smith..etc all hardly known here back then. But over time, got snapped up by the likes multi-brand boutique like Glamourette, Links...etc establishing their own boutiques in time. Or the sales was so good, the brand owner themselves open official boutiques of their own or exclusive distributorship via local garment store owners.

 

Back then there was only Giorgio Armani and a short while later Armani Jeans before they added a cheaper Exchange line just to make it affordable for wannabe to buy.  Just add "Jeans" to the name and a cheaper line was born. Quality was not really there, styling very trendy and most do not last long over a 1-2 seasons, but they were experimental by young designers or apprentice designers to big name designers like Givenchy, Armani, Valentino, Tom Ford..ie.. They dare to take risk to break out on their own taking risk. It was also a time when local designers were encouraged to flourish. Not many did but the few that did, were fantastic and consistent.

 

That was quite a period.... slowly coming back to my mind now heheh...

[bigdanbeam]

6 hours ago, upshot said:

So many brands before they went mainstream or average shopper know their name, Tang Studio was the first to bring them in... use to hang at Scotts Building (or was it another name?) That was a period where so much of creativity fashion design was at its most expressive...between late 80s to 90s. 2000 was the start of decline and also cheaper street stuff start to rise and big boutique brands started getting niche, downgraded or gone.

Wow, tangs studio at scotts. Thats even before it moved  to ngee ann city 

[mate69]

i like tangs studio

so hip during those days lol

[Guest Shooper]

Now hor Tangs is still hip. Hope they wun close down suddenly. The owner is quite old now. They biz is affected by covid and e-commerce. With Robinson gone, cannot imagine Tangs close down too. Next to go should be takashimaya. They are so unhip and auntie crowd. 😅

[Guest Since u r here]

17 hours ago, doncoin said:

 

I bought my first Dolce & Gabbana at Tangs Studio. It was a white mesh tanktop. I also bought my first Diesel jeans there.

 

Fast fashion is creating a lot of trash unfortunately. 

Omg. That's trashy.

Even for you!

 

Fashion police, please!

[Guest Old skool]

Tangs owner is christian so Tangs is family oriented - they cannot even sell Tom Ford's Fucking Fabulous Eau De Parfum because if the swear word. Takashimaya also rather conservative and family oriented, but not Christian owned so they do carry Fucking Fabulous perfume. But you will never see them putting out hip, sexy and controversial ads. Robinson is middle east conglomerate owned, so likewise very 

 

All of them are quite old school, stiff and stuffy in their marketing approaches. So hard to draw younger crowd.

[mate69]

I like old school

[Guest Old skool]

4 minutes ago, mate69 said:

I like old school

But I hate auntie crowd! Lol!!!

[upshot]

Tang Studio is for a long while now a shadow of itself. Merchandising team are not as inspiring as last time. I knew some of them including a young Eurasian (gay) retail executive before he rose to the MD rank for a period - outsider to the family. That was also a period, window display annual competition was always won by Tangs.

 

But the power struggle and in-fighting among the family members did them in. Almost public tend, their fighting was in the news and how it got worst when the Father died. Their father was the only major retailer who ensure Tangs never open on Sunday. Which was favoured by the staffs. Tangs has lost that lustre in the last decade plus. Retails now is too blanc and controlled. High rental thanks to almost monopoly by big corporation made it hard to thrive and too many as I felt from early 2000 though it started to happen a little earlier.

 

There was a time you want to go to a mall or shop big fashion, you have to come to Orchard Road. It was the fanfare. Now many mid-level fashion brand or lower are at every single HDB satellite town. How many pants can you buy in a year and would you need to go to town to do so? Kiasu retailers opens too many stores that meant high operational cost but still serving and selling to the same small pie population. There used to be something special about shopping in a mall.

 

These days a lot of the better or more unique fashion styles even from brands that exist here like conservative Ralph Lauren to younger like GStar Raw.. I rather buy overseas via online. Many styles, local merchandisers dare not bring in or limits them in case can not clear the shelf of it, if no one buys. If you understand retail merchandising you know what I mean. Everyone plays it safe. I am not talking the owners but STAFF involve in the buying and merchandising direction.  Bang head on wall seeing many do not have heart in their work. No one want to do the research. Back like Tangs Studio time, merchandisers live the fashion life. They understand it so make great choices on what can sell or not sell. If you are in retail you walk a mall you can tell from the store front, staff and merchandising line who will make it or who is struggling.

 

Same for my fetish for sneakers collection, I prefer to get them oversea then a local store. At times, they might not carry the design or bring in too late out of season. And COVID-19 just makes things worst.

 

But then again, retail scene in Singapore has always been on a up-and-down-and-mostly-down situation since 1997. I am almost nostalgic for that period.

[upshot]

18 hours ago, doncoin said:

 

I bought my first Dolce & Gabbana at Tangs Studio. It was a white mesh tanktop. I also bought my first Diesel jeans there.

 

Fast fashion is creating a lot of trash unfortunately. 

I bought my first Moschino there.... wah starting to come back to me heheh   Those earlier days were something man.

[doncoin]

@upshot OMG! You reminded me of the windows at Tangs before they got rid of them. I used to love looking at their windows, especially during the holidays. They really made an effort to have amazing windows that tell a story. The last time i was back in Sg, all i see is glass peering into the retail floor. It is kind of uninspiring. I recall that Tangs and Tangs Studio had this amazing campaign once, on Spain- Viva España, or something, and both stores gussied up completely from their windows, to the shopping bags. Tangs Studio used to print this quarterly magazine even had a special edition, and I used to love them as a teen. 

 

I think the fun of shopping has been taken out in Singapore, maybe except for the high-end retailers who have the resources. I think the challenge for Tangs, or any other local departmental stores, Metro is the only other one that comes to mind, is the landscape has changed, and they are not responding quickly or well enough. 

 

Tangs Studio to me stood out because it catered to a fashion forward crowd, who are willing to spend a little more for something unique. It is sad that they had to close the store. I always thought of them comparable to Harvey Nicholas or Selfridges in London. 

[upshot]

38 minutes ago, doncoin said:

@upshot OMG! You reminded me of the windows at Tangs before they got rid of them. I used to love looking at their windows, especially during the holidays. They really made an effort to have amazing windows that tell a story. The last time i was back in Sg, all i see is glass peering into the retail floor. It is kind of uninspiring. I recall that Tangs and Tangs Studio had this amazing campaign once, on Spain- Viva España, or something, and both stores gussied up completely from their windows, to the shopping bags. Tangs Studio used to print this quarterly magazine even had a special edition, and I used to love them as a teen. 

Yes... getting old but if I recall his name was Weng Shan.. a bubbly gay dude, very flamboyantly attired even when he is working on the window display or store interiors with his crew. He was the then highest paid Visual Merchandiser Designer in Singapore, and he was flashy. heh He travels extensively uner Tangs to many western countries to source and scout for new ideas and props to use on CK Tang's stores/windows. He usually won the Singapore awards for store and window concept back then for each festive season. I think no till today since hold a candle to his sense of creativity since he left. Ya they were one of the first store that use Brand and Image building very effectively while many old fashion management were still thinking that was a waste of money . I took a lot of lessons from what they did to use for my retail career.

 

38 minutes ago, doncoin said:

Tangs Studio to me stood out because it catered to a fashion forward crowd, who are willing to spend a little more for something unique. It is sad that they had to close the store. I always thought of them comparable to Harvey Nicholas or Selfridges in London. 

 

I love Selfridges in London. Very old school store and tradition... my last memory of the place was following behind my boss, and he slipped on those old stairways heheheh..  Harvey Nicholas does some really nice windows display for their store. Last one I saw was on Knightbridge .. and how they use made fantasy animals with small bejewelled ornaments and tassels and work the products into them.

 

Anyway these days in Singapore... many stores rely on the retail staff to do the display. So to make it easier many design very simple stuff so that it is easy for the staff to do and reduce the turnaround time instead of a team of display artist going all over Singapore to their branches to fit up the new display. So they Whatsapp a photo and have logistic send down the props and let them handle it, take a shot to show the display artist for approval. Thus over time standard of creative produt display for stores.. dropped.

 

 

 

 

 

[upshot]

One thing COVID19 has taught many retailers is you do not need so many outlets. Something I have always thought was true and argue against opening so many with my former bosses who were owners. There is always a better way to do this, not in t 80s, then 90s,. If not 2000 then in 2020. But some people are too slow to change and conservative view is, unless someone do it and succeed, I am not taking too big a chance.

 

But with COVID19, you are force to. You have to think outside the box or die. You have locked up rental contract that that monopolistic landlord like CAPITAL will not let you off, and you have too many stores and overheads to cover even if you retrench more than half your front-line staff. So you have to reinvent how you do retail business. A store shut down does not mean they are doing so poorly so they close. They EVOLVED. To use less manpower, optimised equipment, invest in newer one that can handle what human use to do that can not catch COVID19 and get sick. They hiring more logistical staff, streamline the backend and learn how to configure a more efficient means of selling good by dispatching and less with a physical store. Over a year of testing and in real life situation, they are not ready. So any store in the last year and looking 2 yrs forward, each one that reach it's 3 yrs lease contract, they do not renew. So what you see of stores closing is not always due to poor business. They down scale the front and upscale the back end.

 

Which should signal to young people as I always say, never think you can be happy doing what you do forever and not improve and have a backup skill set. When things changes, it gets drastic. There are many stores when after COVID19 is declared over, many stores may still NOT OPENING UP but carry on selling via internet. This make sense since rental is fucking silly in Singapore PLUS they get to monitor your profit every day... 365 days a year so you can not lie that your business is poor or not. If poor, they kick you out after your lease. If you are doing well, they see your sale record, they up your renewal rental fee. Very hard give CAPITALAND IS holding most of the landlord cards as a quasi govt organization. Following by a few smaller landlord retail property owners like Land Lease, Hong Leong..etc.. which they dare not make any move or changes without looking at Capitaland for a signal to follow. The game is getting more streamline and there will be more retail shake up to follow. With many heading online. I recently bought another Adidas sneaker to add to my collection, the site was in the US, the order went to a unknown site online, and they send my order as the shoe was available in Singapore to deliver it to me.

 

So not to worry if your favourite brand shut down, it will pop back up really soon. Some might be because they kick the local distributor off to take over directly here.. Nothing new this often happen. Even with giant brands like Mercedes Benz this happen to Cycle and Carriage once the latter establish the brand for them. heheh

[Guest My first Mcdonalds]

22 hours ago, upshot said:

I bought my first Moschino there.... wah starting to come back to me heheh   Those earlier days were something man.

What is moschino? Can eat? Sounds like very delicious and rare Japanese food. Sorry I am very poor and suakoo.

 

I had my first McDonald's yesterday.

[upshot]

26 minutes ago, Guest My first Mcdonalds said:

What is moschino? Can eat? Sounds like very delicious and rare Japanese food. Sorry I am very poor and suakoo.

 

I had my first McDonald's yesterday.

I rarely eat McDonald.. I do not eat Beef. Historically, the year McDonald came to Singapore was at Liat Tower opposite Lido Cinema. That was the year my family also stopped eating beef so I never got to taste what you eat. McDonald to me is not cheap. It is unhealthy and not that cheap I would use my money to buy sensible healthy food or cook at home...which is even cheaper and you appreciate your own effort to making a meal.

 

Don't envy people It's self defeating and time wasting.. work toward improving your life and earning potential... don't beg. Don't spend till you can afford it. So you can feel less pitiful about yourself.

 

https://sg.moschino.com/collections/uomo-ss21

 

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by upshot

[Guest My first Mcdonalds]

7 hours ago, upshot said:

I rarely eat McDonald.. I do not eat Beef. Historically, the year McDonald came to Singapore was at Liat Tower opposite Lido Cinema. That was the year my family also stopped eating beef so I never got to taste what you eat. McDonald to me is not cheap. It is unhealthy and not that cheap I would use my money to buy sensible healthy food or cook at home...which is even cheaper and you appreciate your own effort to making a meal.

 

Don't envy people It's self defeating and time wasting.. work toward improving your life and earning potential... don't beg. Don't spend till you can afford it. So you can feel less pitiful about yourself.

 

https://sg.moschino.com/collections/uomo-ss21

 

 

Wow I've always aspired to dress in those very hip styles! Thanks for opening my eyes to true beauty, class, taste and elegance! Now I can revamp my wardrobe by buying pasar malam pieces that are the original inspiration of these moschino high fashion items so i spend wisely within my budget. You are really inspiring, upshot! 

[upshot]

22 hours ago, Guest My first Mcdonalds said:

Wow I've always aspired to dress in those very hip styles! Thanks for opening my eyes to true beauty, class, taste and elegance! Now I can revamp my wardrobe by buying pasar malam pieces that are the original inspiration of these moschino high fashion items so i spend wisely within my budget. You are really inspiring, upshot! 

I don't know beyond what I like to wear and how I view fashion on me. The link to today's Moschina is NOT FOR ME...but as a refrence as to the brand. When I wore them I was in my young 20s. But TODAY I wear more conservative lines and brands though I keep track of fashion. So I share what glimpses of fashion for those in my older generation in Singapore. A habit from being in Fashion and Retail. It is just memory lane for me.

 

And also just my view on store closures...etc. It is not the end of the world if these store close. And also it is NOT the end of the brand. Just so in Singapore OR they change their business model or felt Singapore is too small to stay in business or have their region hub here. Some brands do not think of making money in Singapore alone but to set up a HQ. Some are money losers... many store you see at MBS are like that. As you get more familiar with the retail scene you will come to understand that. But for the fashion fans who are worry their favourite brand is gone... nah.. many will be around. For local brands, well that is another story. The game is getting harder to hold on to with so many big brands selling cheap or expensive brands locally...they either re-invent themselves or find a better way to sell with lower overheads.

 

There is nothing wrong with pasar malam. There is nothing wrong with aspiring to be better and improve your life. So long you are pro-active with your effort. Not pray to some god to drop money on you. To not be easy to blame others for your failures. Everyone has failures.. That include me. I have made many failures. Not for NOT trying but for trying to make headways till I find the right answer to solving my life's difficulties.

 

If I seem proud to you thus your sly slight. I can not help you. But I am proud I got somewhere (not enough to buy me a 6 series BMW, Ferrari or big condo on Sentosa; but my effort did get me some small rewards to live a little better, roof over my head, not worry too much about money for my old age of 50s today) I see people's success here when they talk about it or outside in the world, as good motivation that if they can do better, so can I. My ego is not hurt. I get inspired to go higher if it interests me.

 

I smell what you are doing here. But trust me, there is nothing to gain from it but waste more of your time. I am talking about my past which is DONE. You are wasting your in TODAY's TIME on trying to play the "uppity game". Unfortunately, that is no time or effort off my back or other readers. I am relishing and sharing a past visual. You are just steaming to hold a conniption and wasting productive time bro. Tick Tok Tick Tok. Just sincere friendly pointer. Your future awaits. Don't waste it on my time. It's already spent.