A survey of 294 of the world’s leading retailers showed that 39 percent of them are in Singapore, a smaller percentage than in Asian cities such as Shanghai, Tokyo, Beijing and Hong Kong.
The study, conducted by estate firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), indicated that 40 percent of the retailers are both in Shanghai and Tokyo, 41 percent in Beijing and 43 percent in Hong Kong.
London ranked first worldwide with 56 percent of the international retail brands surveyed. But its status is being challenged by Dubai with 55 percent. The number of international retailers in Dubai increased 8.2 percent in 2009.
The rest of the top five are Paris (46 percent), New York City (44 per cent) and Hong Kong.
Singapore places 11th worldwide.
The survey mapped the world’s footprint of retailers such as specialist clothing retailers (including Nike), mid-range fashion brands (Zara and Mango), luxury retailers (Louis Vuitton), denim retailers (Diesel and Levi’s), coffee, supermarket restaurant consumer electronic brands.
“While primary cities such as London and Paris continue to attract the majority of international retailers, secondary cities such as Riyadh and Kuwait are seeing a surge in new retailer openings,“ said Peter Gold, CBRE’s head of cross- border retail for Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
He also said that the globalization of retail networks is increasing despite the challenging conditions facing retailers in many markets.
However, in Singapore, the number of international retailers dropped 0.4 percent year-on-year. The country’s ranking fell from eighth to 11th in 2010 – tying with Los Angeles and Milan.
“The survey is based on a basket of brands across the major cities,” said Letty Lee, CBRE’s Singapore director of retail services. “For those brands in the basket, Singapore appears to have missed out on quite a bit of opportunity in attracting retailers in the past decade with the tight (space) supply situation.”
“There is, however, a lot of untapped potential in Singapore given that its retail space per capita is at 7.2 square feet – relatively lower than other cities. The other cities, with their ready and bigger catchments of affluent consumers, have been able to attract a steady stream of retailers over the years.”
Mall operators in Singapore agreed that the city-state needs a larger pool of global retail brands. They have been working very hard to import new brands for the past few years. However, there are still some notable names missing in Singapore, like Swedish fashion retail giant H&M.
”Yes, there is still a need for a diverse retail mix and a balance of local, regional and international brands. Our local and international market is sophisticated and well-travelled and we believe our brand mix meets this need,” said Amy Lim, General Manager of 313 at Somerset.