Giant & Cold Storage Close On 17 Feb, NTUC FairPrice Opens Late 2019
Just a few months ago, we gave a PSA about Giant at VivoCity or Vivomart closing in early 2019.
Now that dreaded time has come and the supermarket is leaving with its counterpart, Cold Storage, too.
TODAYonline reported on Saturday (2 Feb) that Giant and Cold Storage will be exiting VivoCity on 17 Feb.
No supermarkets from 17 Feb
Giant and Cold Storage, both under Dairy Farms International Holdings, will allegedly be closing in 2 weeks.
We’re not sure how nostalgic you’d get about the latter, but most of us will certainly miss the two-storey Giant hypermarket.
The huge store with endless arrays of household products has been a comforting refuge from the sea of retail stores in the mall.
Customers who regularly shop for groceries there will miss the variety of fresh produce that are sold at affordable prices.
With Cold Storage leaving VivoCity at the same time, there will be no other grocery stores available — unless you can survive on products from Marks & Spencer’s food hall.
Alternative options for groceries
FairPrice, Singapore’s largest supermarket chain, will open at VivoCity only in the third quarter of 2019.
That’s somewhere between July and September.
What can customers turn to in the meantime? There’s always online grocery shopping at RedMart, FairPrice On, Giant or Cold Storage.
But if you prefer to pick your products yourself, the nearest supermarkets are:
- Cold Storage, Harbourfront Centre, 1 Maritime Square, #01-48 to 50, Singapore 099253
- NTUC FairPrice, Blk 1, Tanjong Pagar Plaza, #01-01, Singapore 082001
- FairPrice Finest, 100 Tras Street, #B1-01, Singapore 079027
- NTUC FairPrice, 78A Telok Blangah St 32, #01-01/02, Singapore 101078
- NTUC FairPrice, 460 Alexandra Road, #01-09 & #01-16, Singapore 119963
- Habitat by Honestbee, 34 Boon Leat Terrace, Singapore 119866
High expectations for FairPrice Xtra
A FairPrice spokesperson has said that the FairPrice Xtra opening at VivoCity will have “unique features”.
No further details have been given, but with self-checkout machines becoming a fixture in their stores, we can expect more exciting additions.
Perhaps they could take after Habitat by Honestbee and implement fully robotic checkouts, both in-store and via phone apps.
Dining places offering food cooked from fresh produce right from the store could also make a wonderful addition.
The FairPrice Xtra outlet spanning roughly 8,361 square meters will be the largest in Singapore, so there’s more than enough space for these interesting features.
Out with the old, in with the new
We’re sad to see Giant and Cold Storage go, but perhaps the new year bids a new beginning at VivoCity.
We hope that the new FairPrice Xtra outlet will turn out great and be worth the wait when it opens later this year.
For now, if you want to bask in the glorious air-con of Vivomart or Vivo’s Cold Storage one last time, plan a trip to VivoCity soon.
You’ll only have a few days left before they’re gone forever.
Featured image from Google Maps.
