Sembawang, Nee Soon retailers hit by fee hike

Sembawang, Nee Soon retailers hit by fee hike
By Sumita Sreedharan, TODAY | Posted: 11 December 2012 0717 hrs
     
SINGAPORE: Already facing dwindling profits because of the shopping malls that have sprung up nearby, hundreds of heartland retailers in the Sembawang and Nee Soon Group Representation Constituencies will be hit by higher fees - the increase is up to four-fold - for using the demarcated areas outside their shops.

The fee hike, the first in 17 years for shopkeepers in the constituencies, will be implemented in April and some 630 businesses will be affected, according to the Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council.

A visit by TODAY found that most shops use these Outdoor Display Areas - usually demarcated by yellow or red lines - to showcase their wares or to rent out to other businesses.

Responding to this newspaper's queries, a Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council spokesperson said that fees for the outdoor advertising areas in neighbourhood or town centres will go up four-fold for Outdoor Display Areas that are between 1 and 8 sq m, from S$30 to S$120.

Similarly, the fees will increase from S$50 to S$240 for areas that are between 8.01 and 16 sq m.

For areas that are above 16 sq m, the retailers will have to pay S$20 per sq m, instead of the current S$100 flat fee.

The new fees in other parts of the estate are half that in the neighbourhood or town centres. Previously, the town council charged the same fees for all outdoor advertising areas, regardless of location.

Even though operating costs have increased substantially, the fees charged by the Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council have "lagged substantially behind" other town councils, its spokesperson said. "After the review, the (fees) will range from S$2 to S$8 a day, still amongst the lowest in Singapore," she said.

Mr Lee Aik Chin, 60, who runs an IT services business at Woodlands Centre, said he will stop using the Outdoor Display Area outside his shop because of the hike. He said he was unhappy that the town council did not explain the rationale of the fee increase to the retailers.

Mr Edmund Wong, who owns Guan Chuan Chan Medical Hall, currently pays S$600 a year for about 9.3 sq m of outdoor advertising area.

With the fee hike, he will have to pay about S$3,000 a year. He will continue to pay for the space as it is "a way to attract customers".

"Business has been bad ... with the current circumstances, it makes it harder for us," said Mr Wong.

The fee hike by Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council comes after Tampines Town Council raised its fees in September by 150 per cent for shops in the neighbourhood and town centres, and doubled the fees for shops in other parts of the estate.

- TODAY

- wong chee tat :)