GGRAsia – Marina Bay Sands retail strong, more shops soon: operator

Marina Bay Sands retail strong, more shops soon: operator

Apr 30, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Singapore, Top of the deck

Casino resort Marina Bay Sands, in Singapore, will have several new shops in the coming months, said the property’s operator. The announcement comes after the venue’s shopping mall – The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands – ended the first quarter of 2021 with a occupancy rate of 98.9 percent, according to company data.

That compared with an occupancy rate of 96.4 percent a year earlier.

The property (pictured in a file photo) is operated by Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of United States-based Las Vegas Sands Corp.

The Singapore unit said in a press release on Tuesday that The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands was set to welcome in June a boutique of Singapore-based Parisian perfume house Maison21G Paris.

In the third quarter this year, South Korean skincare brand The History of Whoo will launch at the property its “first-ever” service boutique for facial care, according to the release.

Italian linens and lifestyle brand Frette is scheduled to open in September its first standalone store in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands, the document added. By the end of 2021, home and living brand Silky Miracle will launch at the casino resort its first-ever store in the city-state.

Also launching at the property its first standalone store in Singapore – and Asia – is Italian luxury brand Pineider, a maker of leather goods, pens and pencils. The opening is to take place in July.

The Marina Bay Sands press release stated the casino resort would also get new food and drink outlets. They included a branch of the Haidilao Hot Pot chain, to open “in early May”; and a Bacha Coffee venue, to debut “in the middle of this year”. The latter “will offer the brand’s full collection of over 200 loose coffee beans sourced from farmers in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Asia and beyond”.

The press release quoted Hazel Chan, vice president of retail at Marina Bay Sands, as saying the property’s operator was “encouraged by the confidence” shown by its retail partners at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, “at a time where agility and adaptability in the retail landscape is key”.

Since reopening in June 2020, following a temporary closure related to citywide measures adopted by the Singaporean government to curb the spread of Covid-19 locally, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands had “welcomed more than 20 new and flagship stores,” the press release stated.

Financial data disclosed by parent Las Vegas Sands earlier this month showed that The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands recorded an operating profit of US$41 million for the first quarter of 2021, on a gross leasable area of 620,297 square feet (57,627 sq metres). That compared with an operating profit of US$36 million for the prior-year period, and a gross leasable area of 593,756 square feet.