Tenants leaving Thomson Plaza due to renovation works

Tenants are upset over Thomson Plaza renovation works, with at least 20 retailers leaving.

The renovation started this month and will last until the second quarter of next year. Parts of the first and third storeys are being renovated by one of its landlords, Mercatus Co-operative.

“The renovation will provide shoppers with a holistic and comfortable shopping experience, in preparation for the improved connectivity from the upcoming MRT station at Upper Thomson,”

Retailers say business has fallen since the renovation began.

“They didn’t give us enough time, and we just renovated. Business has been so bad since the renovation started, we earned only $200 on some days,” said Siva Crakash, branch manager of Home-Fix, which has been there for 15 years.

Twenty tenants out of 180, will not be returning, including Royal Sporting House and Wine Connection.

Shoe shop NTS Marketing on the third floor has moved to the second and its owner is also unhappy with the revamp.

“Regulars don’t know where we moved to and we have a smaller unit now, so we have to serve fewer people at one time,” the owner said.