Viva VivoCity!

A funny and witty dissection of the latest hype in town.
Viva VivoCity!
By KEE HUA CHEE

VivoCity, Singapore's latest and largest mall at 1.5 million sq ft, is likely to remain the 'Most Humungous Mall' on the island for at least a decade, but Malaysians may not be all that impressed.

THERE was a time when a spade was called a spade, and a place where people shopped was called a "shopping centre". How times have changed!

First it became a "complex", then evolved into a "park", a "mall", and a "plaza", before developers with grandiose schemes started naming them "city", as in Ngee Ann City. As for Singapore's latest, VivoCity, it bills itself as "Singapore's largest multi-experiential retail and lifestyle destination" no less!

A "Destination", mind you, as if it were a capital city or state. I can just see it: Any day now, there will be a pompous shopping centre named "Universe". Already VivoCity's food court is pretentiously called Food Republic.

The RM970mil shopping centre, with over 300 retailers, outdoor amphitheatre, 20,000 sq ft open plaza, 300m harbour-front promenade, and dozens of art installations, promises a lot but fails to rock.

After so much hype, I expect at least an ice skating rink, an aviary, a water world theme park, a botanical garden, a miniature zoo, fountains, 100m waterfalls, animated dinosaurs, perhaps even an indoor ski resort replete with artificial snow like Dubai's Mall of the Emirates.

I recall malls in Seoul and Tokyo that incorporate rail rides artfully linking the various floors. One massive complex in Seoul even had a roller-coaster ride inside the podium, which eventually had to be taken out by the authorities as the screams got on the nerves of other shoppers and the vibrations threatened the structure of the building!

So I try to look suitably impressed when Wendy Low, general manager of VivoCity, rattles off the new shopping centre's prime attractions. Does VivoCity have an amusement park like Kuala Lumpur's Berjaya Times Square? Or an interactive science centre like the Petronas Sains or Aquaria at KLCC? Or a rooftop sports centre like the one in 1-Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya?

Singapore is known for setting trends, so I hold my breath in anticipation.

First comes the obligatory sales pitch.

"VivoCity is a one-stop retail, entertainment and lifestyle destination that will constantly surprise and stimulate visitors with its vibrant mix of unique, ever-evolving, new-to-market retail experience and entertainment brands and concepts. VivoCity is derived from 'vivacity', i.e. 'vivacious' so it's a place bubbling with energy and vitality.

"And the main stars are?"

Golden Village has opened Singapore's biggest multiplex with 15 screens and 2,172 seats, including a 602-seat cinema with a 22.4m screen, which is one of the largest in Asia. Tangs also has its second store here with 86,000 sq ft, focusing on fashion and lifestyle products. The 115,000 sq ft Dairy Farm offers the biggest Giant Hypermarket, Guardian Health & Beauty Store, and Cold Storage for health and organic foodstuffs," beams Wendy Ong.
In other words, a huge cinema, a department store and two supermarkets are the main draws!

A complex complex

Unlike Suria KLCC where you can stroll from one end to another on a floor-by-floor basis and not get disoriented, VivoCity seems a tad complex in its layout - to the extent I got lost thrice, which is a record for a world-class mall-trawler like me.

Famous Japanese architect Toyo Ito designed VivoCity to stand out, but there is something to be said for easy layouts and instant bird's eye view of the shops. Ito's theme for VivoCity is "surfing" in honour of the harbour-front location. This makes it even more puzzling why there are no marine parks with frolicking dolphins, swimming pools or manmade surfing lagoons here.

The only concessions to water are the sky-roof play pools and the courtyard with interactive water features: pleasant but nothing to write home about.

The warren of shops make for exciting discoveries - but only if you are a 20-year-old gym-fit bunny. I see many 40- and 50-somethings searching for limited public seats, with some even resorting to occupying taxi stands. The food and drinks outlets do a roaring trade for this reason, perhaps.

Hot openings

VivoCity is billed as a must-visit as it is away from Orchard Road, Singapore's main shopping paradise. Once you have traipsed up and down Orchard Road, VivoCity is the next logical stop. With familiar labels like Zara, Nautica, Bebe, Ted Baker, Esprit, Naf Naf, Pumpkin Patch, Mango, Osim, Bossini, Brooks Brothers, Lee Hwa Jewellery, Thirtysevendegrees, NIKE by Bird and the like, it is a mid-market place.

There are no Vuitton, Dior, Fendi or Gucci within 10km. However, those with cash to burn can still do so at Sincere Fine Watches and a slew of jewellery shops.

VivoCity set a record for its opening weekend when over 325,000 thronged the premises in two days. "

Some 168,000 visited on Saturday and another 157,000 on Sunday!" says Low proudly. This was beyond all expectations! Around 93% of space had been let out by opening day, which was also beyond expectations. And 20% of retailers are hitting Singapore's shores for the first time. These include Adidas Original Store, GAP, Pull & Bear, and Spain2Dream."

The store that stands out from the herd is Tangs.

Its Dressing Room section, offering ladies' lingerie and intimate underwear, is the talk of the town. It's not massive, like the one at Galeries Lafayette in Paris, but the mannequins locked inside S&M cages or reclining provocatively atop display shelves follow the Parisian store's format and reek of Moulin Rouge.

Each of the three changing rooms has a name: Pin-Up Girl, Luxe Deluxe, and, the most scandalous of all, Queen of Hearts, which comes replete with mirrored walls and a podium with a pole right in the middle!"

This is the most popular, and there is usually a queue! A girl can try on the intimate apparel and indulge in a bit of pole dancing in the privacy of the changing room, alone with no one watching! Just for the fun of it!" grins Elizabeth Kwan, Tangs' visual merchandising manager. "

Just a bit of harmless fantasy and role acting!" she hastens to add.

Then there is PlayLab, Tangs' fashion station for men and women. With music blaring from speakers and boom boxes, it's more disco than boutique, and that's exactly what the 20-somethings want. FJ Benjamin, the franchisee for GAP, was forced to open its first store two days earlier to cope with demands. Sales reportedly topped S$50,000 (RM116,000) in one day!

VivoCity is the centrepiece of the redeveloped, 24-hectare HarbourFront project, which includes HarbourFront Towers, Sentosa Cove, HarbourFront Centre, and the multi-entertainment hub across the road called St James Power Station.

St James is not a former church but a former power station and is one of the biggest discos in South-East Asia.