A walk down Orchard Road shows just how badly the coronavirus pandemic has hit Singapore’s famed shopping strip.
Gone are popular restaurants like Modesto’s, which shut last month after 23 years. Also missing are the queues of Chinese tourists outside Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Malls along the 2.4km stretch, once one of Asia’s top shopping meccas, are dotted with empty stores. On a recent midweek afternoon, the number of shop staff idly dusting shelves or playing with their mobile phones rather than greeting customers is notable.
“It’s the worst crisis for Singapore and Orchard Road,” said Kiran Assodani, who has run her custom tailor shop in one of the older malls for 35 years. The alterations outlet, which caters to both tourists and locals, has seen sales drop by 90 per cent since the virus outbreak. “I don’t know if the shops can weather this storm.”
Orchard Road’s malaise is a microcosm of the city-state’s pain. After initial success in containing Covid-19, an outbreak swept through scores of dormitories housing foreign workers, prompting a two-month partial lockdown that’s sending the economy toward its worst-ever recession. Global travel restrictions are robbing Singapore of around $20bn in tourism receipts and the domestic market is too small to make up the shortfall.
