reporter2
29-09-21, 12:15
F&B, retail outlets in Singapore's CBD hurt by work-from-home measures
Sep 28, 2021
FOOD and beverage (F&B) and retail players in Singapore's central business district (CBD) were dealt a heavy blow when the month-long work-from-home directive kicked off on Monday.
Working from home will be the default for employees who are able to do so from Sept 27 to Oct 24, as part of another round of tightened Covid-19 measures in a bid to keep the rising daily infections under control.
This comes just as the office crowds were beginning to trickle back into the CBD since measures were relaxed in August to allow up to a maximum of 50 per cent of employees at workplaces.
F&B players and retailers with a presence in the CBD said that the latest work-from-home advisory had instantaneously offset any progress made in recent weeks.
Though short-lived, the initial pick up in business was “very encouraging”, said Martin Bem, Ponte Group’s founder and managing director. The group operates F&B establishments at Marina Bay Financial Centre and Marina Bay Link Mall.
"Now we are obviously back to square one," said Mr Bem, adding that he did not expect "such severe restrictions" given the city-state's high vaccination rates.
"We have so much ground to make up after these tough last 18 months," he said.
Andrew Chan, managing director of The Soup Spoon, said that the default work-from-home arrangement "basically reduces the footfall to near zero".
Based on the lunch crowd on Monday, sentiment among businesses was grim as they brace themselves for a huge decline in revenue.
Mr Chan said that retailers are in for a hard time with sales at The Soup Spoon falling to just a mere fraction of the already low figures during Monday's lunchtime.
Norwegian fast casual seafood concept Pink Fish, which had just begun operations at One Raffles Place this month, is estimating an 80 per cent drop in business.
Mr Bem expects sales at rooftop restaurant LeVeL33 to see a 20 to 30 per cent decline from the previous week while that of Erwin’s Gastrobar will be down by at least 50 per cent.
Clothing retailer The Closet Lover, which has an outlet at Raffles Xchange, is expecting at least a 50 per cent drop in footfall.
"Most of the people who visit our outlet there are working adults who come by during lunch or after work to shop. With the bulk of them shifting back to working from home, there will be way fewer people coming by the area to begin with," said Brianna and Bertilla Wong, co-founders of The Closet Lover.
"We've decided to monitor the current situation in the next week or so before taking any further action. Depending on the situation, we might reduce the manpower at each of the retail outlets, and might shorten our store operation hours," they added.
In the meantime, The Closet Lover is ramping up its online marketing efforts and also hoping that footfall in the heartland outlets will increase as more people work from home.
The Soup Spoon, on the other hand, has temporarily closed three of its five outlets in the CBD, given that sales figures are unable to make up for staff costs, said Mr Chan, adding that the company is taking the opportunity to allow staff to clear their leave.
While many have turned to online platforms to mitigate the impact of the diminishing office crowd, business owners say that such efforts may not necessarily be sufficient to make up for losses.
"We won't say that we can cushion the impact financially, we can only come up with more ways to make deliveries and takeaways more convenient for our customers," said Ronny Gjose, chief executive officer, partner and co-founder of Pink Fish.
For instance, Pink Fish has invested in an ordering system where customers can choose a preferred timeslot to pick up their food.
Mr Bem pointed out that food deliveries "provide a tiny fraction of sales" compared with normal operations.
There is also an obligation to keep staff employed in these difficult times, he added, noting that the only possible way to ease the pressure on expenses is through salary cuts.
Even if measures are relaxed in the coming months, F&B and retail players say there is still much uncertainty over whether the CBD crowd will return.
For SaladStop, which has been able to tap demand outside the CBD given that 50 per cent of its outlets are located elsewhere, managing director Adrien Desbaillets said that there is still a lingering question about the long-term viability of staying in the CBD.
"When is this going to end? When do people ultimately return to the office? And what happens to those locations? Maybe for slightly larger operators, we are all thinking about what the future of work will be like," he added.
Ponte Group's Mr Bem said that customers are also frustrated by the constantly evolving Covid-19 measures.
"Everybody is worn out, tired and stressed. Therefore we are not even sure how business is going to return once measures are lifted again," he said.
Mr Desbaillets is anticipating the next four months "to be very hard" for businesses in the CBD, saying that he does not expect a "huge rush" back to the office even when measures ease.
This is especially since businesses tend to slow down at the end of the year with the holiday season approaching and with more people taking time off work, he added.
Mr Desbaillets is therefore calling for more targeted support measures, given that the impact of the pandemic is "clearly disproportionate", he said, adding that businesses in the CBD and tourist areas, for instance, have been much more negatively affected than the others.
"I feel strongly that assistance moving forward needs to be divided accordingly," he said.
Sep 28, 2021
FOOD and beverage (F&B) and retail players in Singapore's central business district (CBD) were dealt a heavy blow when the month-long work-from-home directive kicked off on Monday.
Working from home will be the default for employees who are able to do so from Sept 27 to Oct 24, as part of another round of tightened Covid-19 measures in a bid to keep the rising daily infections under control.
This comes just as the office crowds were beginning to trickle back into the CBD since measures were relaxed in August to allow up to a maximum of 50 per cent of employees at workplaces.
F&B players and retailers with a presence in the CBD said that the latest work-from-home advisory had instantaneously offset any progress made in recent weeks.
Though short-lived, the initial pick up in business was “very encouraging”, said Martin Bem, Ponte Group’s founder and managing director. The group operates F&B establishments at Marina Bay Financial Centre and Marina Bay Link Mall.
"Now we are obviously back to square one," said Mr Bem, adding that he did not expect "such severe restrictions" given the city-state's high vaccination rates.
"We have so much ground to make up after these tough last 18 months," he said.
Andrew Chan, managing director of The Soup Spoon, said that the default work-from-home arrangement "basically reduces the footfall to near zero".
Based on the lunch crowd on Monday, sentiment among businesses was grim as they brace themselves for a huge decline in revenue.
Mr Chan said that retailers are in for a hard time with sales at The Soup Spoon falling to just a mere fraction of the already low figures during Monday's lunchtime.
Norwegian fast casual seafood concept Pink Fish, which had just begun operations at One Raffles Place this month, is estimating an 80 per cent drop in business.
Mr Bem expects sales at rooftop restaurant LeVeL33 to see a 20 to 30 per cent decline from the previous week while that of Erwin’s Gastrobar will be down by at least 50 per cent.
Clothing retailer The Closet Lover, which has an outlet at Raffles Xchange, is expecting at least a 50 per cent drop in footfall.
"Most of the people who visit our outlet there are working adults who come by during lunch or after work to shop. With the bulk of them shifting back to working from home, there will be way fewer people coming by the area to begin with," said Brianna and Bertilla Wong, co-founders of The Closet Lover.
"We've decided to monitor the current situation in the next week or so before taking any further action. Depending on the situation, we might reduce the manpower at each of the retail outlets, and might shorten our store operation hours," they added.
In the meantime, The Closet Lover is ramping up its online marketing efforts and also hoping that footfall in the heartland outlets will increase as more people work from home.
The Soup Spoon, on the other hand, has temporarily closed three of its five outlets in the CBD, given that sales figures are unable to make up for staff costs, said Mr Chan, adding that the company is taking the opportunity to allow staff to clear their leave.
While many have turned to online platforms to mitigate the impact of the diminishing office crowd, business owners say that such efforts may not necessarily be sufficient to make up for losses.
"We won't say that we can cushion the impact financially, we can only come up with more ways to make deliveries and takeaways more convenient for our customers," said Ronny Gjose, chief executive officer, partner and co-founder of Pink Fish.
For instance, Pink Fish has invested in an ordering system where customers can choose a preferred timeslot to pick up their food.
Mr Bem pointed out that food deliveries "provide a tiny fraction of sales" compared with normal operations.
There is also an obligation to keep staff employed in these difficult times, he added, noting that the only possible way to ease the pressure on expenses is through salary cuts.
Even if measures are relaxed in the coming months, F&B and retail players say there is still much uncertainty over whether the CBD crowd will return.
For SaladStop, which has been able to tap demand outside the CBD given that 50 per cent of its outlets are located elsewhere, managing director Adrien Desbaillets said that there is still a lingering question about the long-term viability of staying in the CBD.
"When is this going to end? When do people ultimately return to the office? And what happens to those locations? Maybe for slightly larger operators, we are all thinking about what the future of work will be like," he added.
Ponte Group's Mr Bem said that customers are also frustrated by the constantly evolving Covid-19 measures.
"Everybody is worn out, tired and stressed. Therefore we are not even sure how business is going to return once measures are lifted again," he said.
Mr Desbaillets is anticipating the next four months "to be very hard" for businesses in the CBD, saying that he does not expect a "huge rush" back to the office even when measures ease.
This is especially since businesses tend to slow down at the end of the year with the holiday season approaching and with more people taking time off work, he added.
Mr Desbaillets is therefore calling for more targeted support measures, given that the impact of the pandemic is "clearly disproportionate", he said, adding that businesses in the CBD and tourist areas, for instance, have been much more negatively affected than the others.
"I feel strongly that assistance moving forward needs to be divided accordingly," he said.