Shopkeepers dismayed at NTUC Fairprice’s presence in Eunos C
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Shopkeepers dismayed at NTUC Fairprice’s presence in Eunos Crescent
Friday, 25 December 2009
NTUC FairPrice sets up a new mini-mart in Eunos to the dismay of local shopkeepers.
It may be the Christmas festive season, but shopkeeper Mohamed Eliyas has little to cheer about.
Run for the last 12 years from a HDB shop unit at Block 6 along Eunos Crescent, the 66-year-old’s convenience store business has never been all that prosperous. It provides a decent livelihood for him and his three workers, nothing more.
The recession threatened to end all that. Nonetheless, Eliyas managed to keep the business afloat, albeit only just – despite a rent reduction last year, his monthly takings can barely cover the running costs.
Some good tidings would have been welcome this holiday season, yet none are forthcoming.
Three weeks ago, NTUC FairPrice – a retail chain with over 90 supermarkets across Singapore – announced its inauspicious arrival to local shopkeepers by commencing renovation work for a new mini-mart.
The store, located just 50 metres away from Eliyas’s shop, will greet its first customers next Monday.
Faced with price competition from a major supermarket chain, Eliyas fears the worst. He expects to lose 30 to 35 per cent of his customers – a daunting prospect for his 34-year-old business. He lamented: “How are we going to survive?”
Eliyas is not alone in his anguish. About seven other shops in the area could face tougher times ahead.
An Indian shopkeeper, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The Online Citizen that he could lose up to 50 per cent of his earnings. “In the worst-case scenario, I may have to return the shop [to the HDB],” he said.
Others expressed bewilderment. A 48-year-old male shop assistant, who declined to be named, said in Mandarin: “This place is a small pond. Why would a big fish like [FairPrice] want to come here? There isn’t much room for it to swim.”
FairPrice, however, does not consider its presence to be damaging to local business. A spokesperson told TOC: “The [new store] will be replacing [an iEcon mini-mart]. As such, we do not foresee this as adding new competition to the area.”
Setting up small stores in HDB estates is not a new gambit for FairPrice. The supermarket chain currently runs more than 10 mini-marts, having opened its first one in the late 1970s.
“Our objective for the Eunos store is to serve the lower income families in the area,” the spokesperson added.
And if FairPrice does honour its claim to make essential items “affordable and accessible”, then local residents would not mind their presence, regardless of the impact on small businesses.
“Competition is good for the consumer,” said Mdm Tan Siew Geok in Mandarin. The 55-year-old housewife added: “It may not be great for the shopkeepers, but consumers would welcome lower prices.”
Mdm Tang Siew Tiang agreed. The self-employed 54-year-old said in Mandarin: “Most people will compare prices and buy from the shop with the cheapest offerings.”Nonetheless, she believes that local shopkeepers need not be overly worried. “[FairPrice] doesn’t always offer the cheapest prices. There will be items that will be less expensive to buy from the other convenience stores,” she said.
Even so, shopkeepers are not optimistic about fending off competition from a large commercial rival, given its brand name and superior distribution links.
For Eliyas, an Indian Muslim, he can only hope that his range of Indian goods and foodstuff might retain some patrons.
“I have some Indian customers, but I’m not sure they can cover for [the loss of business] or not,” he explained. “If HDB reduces the rent by 50 per cent, I hope I can make it. If not, there’s a question mark [over my future].”
The future is similarly bleak for shopkeeper Chua Kia Joo. Now in her eighties, she too faces the prospect of closing her three-decade-old business.
Her daughter, who helps run the shop, summed up their mood. She declined to be named, but said in Mandarin: “It’s not right for a big company to come here and compete with us small businesses. How do they expect us to do business?”
But beneath the indignation, she seemed resigned to the inevitable.
“Eventually all the small businesses like ours will be gone,” she sighed. “It is only a matter of time.”
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NTUC not only owns supermarts, they own casket company, minimarts, foodcourts.
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I try to support the mom-and-pop operations first.
It's always the mama shop or the Econ minimart first before NTUC or Shop N Save.
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I only support Sheng siong !!
because can see many live fishes
lobster , nemo , clams , eels
etc..
Sounds like a aquarium shop..
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Sheng Siong shirks its corporate social responsibility & engages in anti-competitive behaviour
December 23, 2009
This is a letter from a group of customers of wet-markets to Temasek Review. please post it on your forum or letter section.
We are a group of wet market regular customers and we are terribly upset with Sheng Siong for shirking its corporate social responsibility and for engaging in anti-competitive behaviour. The news article above in CNA informed about Sheng Siong’s practise of signing 1 year leases with stall owners of the three wet markets it bought recently. It also gave assurance that rents will not be increased till end March 2010.
Sheng Siong’s Anti-Competitive Behaviour
Firstly when Sheng Siong came forward to buy those three wet markets Competition Commission of Singapore should have stepped in as that is clearly anti-competitive behaviour. In a free market, when a player with substantial market power due to its size moves in to gobble up the smaller players, that is undeniably anti-competitive behaviour.
In a perfect free competition market, there should be no seller with a bigger market share than another seller. That basically means that in the real imperfect world, there should be extremely few sellers with large market share and they should not have significantly large market shares. In other words there must be a reasonable number of other players who can compete with the larger players even if their firm sizes differ. Most importantly the former group must not use its market share advantage to push out the smaller ones.
When Sheng Siong bought those three markets, it only edged five leaps closers to pushing out the smaller retailers of vegetables, meat and groceries in wet markets. Today Sheng Siong has offered to give only a pathetic 1 year lease to stall owners. That will cripple stall owners from making any long term sustainable plans to their businesses. Essentially this measure by Sheng Siong will reduce market share of wet market stall owners. This is again an anti-competitive behaviour. Competitive Commission of Singapore must step in and take Sheng Siong to task.. CCS so far has failed in its independence and competency in preserving and promoting competitive behaviour in circumstances such as this.
Sheng Siong shirking its corporate social responsibility
Sheng Siong has a corporate social responsibility towards the stall owners and society at large. These stall owners are mostly from the bottom 50% of the income bracket in Singapore. Yet they have not built their businesses on subsidies and protection in all these decades. Rather they are an integral part of Singapore society who have served the needs of Singaporeans in many ways.
Their sustainability is a social requirement. If they were to die out due to Singaporeans giving up on them, then that is a different issue. Some segments of Singaporeans still patronise wet markets. Those who dont still want them to be around. Therefore Sheng Siong must stop its practices that reduce participation of the stall owners. Already several stall owners have given up their stalls due to insecurity posed by Sheng Siong with its unfair leases. These practices must stop.
Sheng Shiong’s corporate social responsibility to the society at large is to ensure the society enjoys continued benefit and satisfaction from the wet markets. We do not wish to see the wet markets being turned into Sheng Siong supermarkets. We do not get that much benefit from Sheng Siong supermarkets as we get from wet markets. As iterated earlier, the mere existence of wet markets even if some Singaporeans do not patronise them gives them a sense of satisfaction seeing them around. Those Singaporeans do not reap such satisfaction from seeing Sheng Siong supermarkets around as they are indifferent to Sheng Siong.
Alternative Strategies for Sheng Siong
Sheng Siong should explore alternative strategies. For instance it can create a cooperative for the stall owners and let them run it. Sheng Siong can then set up its supermarkets around the wet markets and capitalise on the synergies. For instance the wet markets do not open long hours and Sheng Siong can get the sales during those hours. Likewise Sheng Siong can do wholesale to these stalls.
There are indeed many ways Sheng Siong and the stall owners have a win win situation without affecting the sustainability of wet markets or commercial returns of Sheng Siong. The time is now for Sheng Siong to act. It is particularly disturbing when one realises that Sheng Siong founder, Lim Hock Chee was an ordinary pork seller before starting his supermarket. He should all the more understand the agony of customers and stall owners than civil servants and politicians. If we do not see a difference in Sheng Siong’s policies, then the supermarket can be rest assured that we will boycott the chain.
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i still remember at Jurong East interchange...
there was a little kiosk selling breakfast stuff like mee siam and pau.. it was doing a roaring trade as those going through the interchange in the morning would just buy something on the run.. that's small enterprise from a happy entrepreneur... making a decent living...
then NTUC built a kiosk beside it doing exactly the same thing and with its purchasing power, it outlasted the other one by basically pulling away almost half its customers...
the kiosk folded.. i hope it sold out to NTUC but i doubt it...
NTUC ran a kiosk there selling breakfast stuff for years until the interchange renovated and bigger stalls like ananas or whatever moved in...
so... entrepreneur? enterprise? the big fish, which is actually a co-op and a union, goes around killing the smaller businesspeople...
it's a sad state of affairs..
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this is capitalism, the voting power of money... where people chooses to buy from ntuc or the convenience shops....
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Originally posted by the Bear:
i still remember at Jurong East interchange...
there was a little kiosk selling breakfast stuff like mee siam and pau.. it was doing a roaring trade as those going through the interchange in the morning would just buy something on the run.. that's small enterprise from a happy entrepreneur... making a decent living...
then NTUC built a kiosk beside it doing exactly the same thing and with its purchasing power, it outlasted the other one by basically pulling away almost half its customers...
the kiosk folded.. i hope it sold out to NTUC but i doubt it...
NTUC ran a kiosk there selling breakfast stuff for years until the interchange renovated and bigger stalls like ananas or whatever moved in...
so... entrepreneur? enterprise? the big fish, which is actually a co-op and a union, goes around killing the smaller businesspeople...
it's a sad state of affairs..
Thumbs up for what you said.It is a sad state of affair in sg when the people are suffering poor business because of the govt. Yet the govt keeps encouraging enterpreneurship.
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
Thumbs up for what you said.It is a sad state of affair in sg when the people are suffering poor business because of the govt. Yet the govt keeps encouraging enterpreneurship.
how is it the govt fault?
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Originally posted by skythewood:
this is capitalism, the voting power of money... where people chooses to buy from ntuc or the convenience shops....
it's a co-op
it is not supposed to go aggressively chasing profits
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Example
1.5 L bottle of Ice tea
NTUC / 1.45
Sheng Siong / 1.35
Provision Shops / 1. 70
So u make ur own choice...
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Originally posted by skythewood:
how is it the govt fault?
there you go again. skythewoord - Anti people of singaporeif the govt has the welfare and interest for the people they should let live.
if you not happy with my reply, please write in to STraits Times to complain.
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btw.. Sheng Siong has every right to pursue profits.. it is a profit-driven company right?
NTUC? like i said ad-nauseum, is a co-op
and if a co-op with all their purchasing power from their size cannot run their organisation as efficiently as Sheng Siong or Giant, then screw them... they've failed
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Originally posted by the Bear:
it's a co-op
it is not supposed to go aggressively chasing profits
He will choose not to understand.skythewood = anti people of singapore
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Originally posted by the Bear:
it's a co-op
it is not supposed to go aggressively chasing profits
not too sure how it should run its operations.... should they make things more cheap so that it makes less profits?
Or should it provide lousier service, so people will go to the convenience shops?
How should NTUC operates? How should the govt order NTUC to operate?
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
He will choose not to understand.skythewood = anti people of singapore
...... merry christmas to you too.
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Originally posted by skythewood:
not too sure how it should run its operations.... should they make things more cheap so that it makes less profits?
Or should it provide lousier service, so people will go to the convenience shops?
How should NTUC operates? How should the govt order NTUC to operate?
For your info, many complain about the service of NTUC. I have problem of them overcharging me several times. The only good thing about NTUC is it is more accessible than others -
Originally posted by Fantagf:
For your info, many complain about the service of NTUC. I have problem of them overcharging me several times. The only good thing about NTUC is it is more accessible than othersok, good to know. who gives a shit what service they provide? don't assume i ask question about ntuc means that i support ntuc. It's this kind of behavior that kills off creativity, if someone questions you, BAM! you are anti-people, anti -freedom, bad person.
My question remains simple. Why. Is. It. Govt. Fault. Make the link, than end of story.
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......................i never buy from ntuc....after i heard they got coffin business
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Originally posted by skythewood:
ok, good to know. who gives a shit what service they provide? don't assume i ask question about ntuc means that i support ntuc. It's this kind of behavior that kills off creativity, if someone questions you, BAM! you are anti-people, anti -freedom, bad person.
My question remains simple. Why. Is. It. Govt. Fault. Make the link, than end of story.
if you are messed up, you are, don't mix the reply to your the other post with the first one.STupid. Not happy then write to ST to complain about the forumers here.
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Originally posted by Hitman.:
......................i never buy from ntuc....after i heard they got coffin business
yes. and I am thinking if lky is getting his coffin from NTUC
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I tell you
Now NTUC like fighting to keep its prescene due to CS, SNS & SS compeititon, now taking available small shop space.
Take never mind. Make small shop out of business with their lagi smaller product range. I'm not joking, NTUC's product range some outlets even lose to provision shops not to say price.
Sad Singapore under PAP can never be like ROC or Hong Kong, lots of real businessman. If 1 day PAP topple, how? Whole Singapore topple just like tat
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Originally posted by skythewood:
not too sure how it should run its operations.... should they make things more cheap so that it makes less profits?
Or should it provide lousier service, so people will go to the convenience shops?
How should NTUC operates? How should the govt order NTUC to operate?
it wasn't supposed to be gabrament-ruined.. uhh.. gabrament-runned... it is supposed to be run by a union...
a co-op is run for its members so that they can get affordable goods which they need... and if there is a slight profit, it is run back to the members through dividends..
profit should be the least in its mind..
considering the vast purchasing power of the co-op, it can purchase by bulk.. and with that in mind, and that they are not looking for a margin big enough for profits, they can sell the things to the people cheaper....
yet they are being beaten in price by profit-driven companies.. and in service too..
i would look at the management.. they will need to re-look their whole process and reengineer their whole operation to be more efficient..
this in turn will be channelled back to the consumers who should get cheaper products..
they have lost sight of what their core mission...
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zzzzzzzzzzzz......
never mind, since you are so easily confuse, i will ask again.
How should govt ask NTUC to operate. REMEMBER if you can't answer, you don't need to. Not answering doesn't mean you are stupid. There is no penalty for ignoring me
If you answer correctly, you will earn my respect as a knowledgeable person. You won't win any grand price.
If you choose to call me ANTI-PEOPLE or what ever because i ask question, well, i will let others judge your character.
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NTUC
"Fair Price"
Fair means not cheap or too exp
means FAIR......