Filmgarde Bugis Cinema Will Close On 3 Feb, Century Square Outlet To Close In End-March
Bugis, home to numerous entertainment centres and retail stores, is a popular hangout spot for many of us during our schooling days.
Sadly, it seems a mainstay at Bugis+ shopping centre will soon be disappearing for good.
On Tuesday (25 Jan), Filmgarde Cineplexes announced that they will be closing its theatre at Bugis+ for good after 13 years.
This is the 2nd closure announced by Filmgarde just this month alone — its outlet at Century Square will also be shuttering up by March.
Filmgarde Bugis cinema will close on 3 Feb
On Tuesday (25 Jan), Filmgarde Cineplexes confirmed that they will be closing their Bugis+ outlet in about a week’s time.
According to their Facebook post, they have occupied the space at Bugis for more than 4,687 days.
But all good things must come to an end, and after 13 years of screening some of the world’s best movies, it’s time for the outlet to say goodbye.
Filmgarde thanked everyone who has supported them throughout the years at the mall.
Bugis+ Filmgarde will be screening its last movie on 3 Feb, right after Chinese New Year (CNY).
With their final hurrah right around the corner, Filmgarde urged customers to drop by and say their goodbyes this CNY.
Century Square cinema closes end-March
Apart from the Bugis+ outlet, Filmgarde Cineplexes will also be shutting their cinema at Century Square.
Earlier in January, the homegrown cinema operator shared that both outlets will close by March as leases at both malls expire.
The Century Square outlet is slated to close at the “tail-end of March”, reportedly affecting about 20 employees.
Filmgarde assured that the affected staff will be reallocated to other business divisions such as property and hospitality.
Part of Filmgarde’s business transformation plan
By March 2022, only its cinema at Leisure Park Kallang will remain.
According to CNA, the closures are part of Filmgarde’s business transformation plan to cope with changing industry trends.
The cinema operator will be announcing upcoming plans for their Kallang outlet in due time.
Filmgarde’s head of cinema operations Mr Sherman Ong shared with CNA that cinema attendance figures in Singapore have been on the decline since 2013.
From 2017-2019, Singapore’s national cinema attendance reportedly fell to pre-2010 levels.
When the pandemic began, these trends were accelerated and exacerbated.
Mr Ong explained that the film industry has been fundamentally altered by the surge in online streaming platforms.
With the expiry of their leases, decision-makers at Filmgarde found it timely to shift investments to new areas of growth within the media industry and other sectors.
Show your support one last time
With only a handful of cinema operators in Singapore, it’s certainly sad to see one of the smaller players in the industry ‘downsizing’ so significantly.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been especially harsh on many businesses, including cinema operators, which had to endure prolonged closures and limited capacity seating.
If you’d like to support Filmgarde Bugis+ one last time, do head down over the CNY break before they shutter for good.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps and CapitaLand.
