Jurong West Hawker Centre Closing

[RickyWee]

https://mothership.sg/2020/05/jurong-west-hawker-centre-close-down/

Jurong West Hawker Centre (JWHC) is closing down and will remain shut for at least 10 months.

This shock announcement was made by the National Environment Agency on May 5, 2020.

NEA said the hawker centre will only be reopen sometime in the second half of 2021 after the exit of the current operator, Hawker Management.

Hawker Management, an enterprise under Koufu described as "socially-conscious", will not renew its three-year contract with NEA when it expires on Aug. 6.

NEA is seeking a new operator and will carry out potential renovation work in the interim.

Not ideal performance standards

Hawker Management said its "ideal performance standards" were not met.

The company said results did not meet our ideal performance standards despite Hawker Management's efforts.

"Following HM's (Hawker Management) appointment as the operator of JWHC in 2017, HM had seen to be putting in the necessary resources to bring vibrancy to Jurong West Hawker Centre and support the local hawker trade," the company said in a media release.

"Koufu, as a public listed company, has an obligation to safeguard our shareholders’ interests, therefore we have made the difficult decision to exit upon expiry of the contract in August 2020 to focus efforts on other aspects of our business."

Hawker Management said it remains committed to managing the hawker centre until the end of the contract term.

Rental waivers

It added that it will provide rental waivers for stallholders from June until Aug. 6, the end of stallholders' tenancy.

It will also offer a S$1,000 relocation fee to eligible stallholders.

NEA and Hawker Management said they will help stallholders relocate to available stalls at existing hawker centres and markets managed by NEA, or to coffee shops and food courts run by Koufu.

Existing stallholders will be offered to return to Jurong West Hawker Centre when it is ready, said NEA.

This is on top of the government's three-month rental waiver as part of the Resilience Budget.

NEA said it will conduct a request for proposal to seek new ideas from operators to improve the two-storey hawker centre and market.

The agency said it will conduct conduct public consultations to gather ideas and suggestions from the community.

The hawker centre has been badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are about 10 stalls in operation now.

[Watwheels]

I think there's another market & hawker center not too far away call 505.

This wan must be boh nang patronise.

[Kangadrool]

By car is near, by public transport is very "far" with pusing sini and kenan sana public bus service for residents of JW extension/Upper Jurong areas.

[Kangadrool]

It was designed to fail in the first place, probably to prove that Singaporeans no longer like  wet markets and hawker centres, pushing further into their agenda of mega malls and airconditioned food courts. 

[13177]

27 minutes ago, Watwheels said:

I think there's another market & hawker center not too far away call 505.

This wan must be boh nang patronise.

I only know there is one foodcourt at pioneer mall next to it. When this hc opened, i thought the foodcourt business will get affected and closed down. Seems like the hc closed down eventually. If walk a bit further, there is a coffeeshop opposite Pioneer MRT. But the surrounding around the hc have many housing le, but people simply dont go to this hc. Lol.

[13177]

10 minutes ago, Kangadrool said:

It was designed to fail in the first place, probably to prove that Singaporeans no longer like  wet markets and hawker centres, pushing further into their agenda of mega malls and airconditioned food courts. 

All the newly opened hc, most of them business not very good. Think so far heard only bt panjang hc business quite ok?!

[Silver_blade]

16 minutes ago, 13177 said:

All the newly opened hc, most of them business not very good. Think so far heard only bt panjang hc business quite ok?!

A lot of people prefer supermarket to wet market and foodcourt to hawker centre.

[Hamburger]

Wet market pricing can be more ex for all you know.

 

Try compare pricing and see who is carrot.

[13177]

17 minutes ago, Silver_blade said:

A lot of people prefer supermarket to wet market and foodcourt to hawker centre.

But some of those old hc quite crowded la, like chong pang.

[Watwheels]

Is it becos they never intro free parking during lunch time?

[Silver_blade]

20 minutes ago, 13177 said:

But some of those old hc quite crowded la, like chong pang.

A lot depend on the age of the people in the estate and if the hc is a famous one or not. The famous ones will attract young and old from all over the country...they will also have regulars. 

Those that do not stand out from the rest will be overlooked. Supermarkets give discounts to old folks on certain day, can earn points, etc.

[Kb27]

"Socially conscious" ?

yeah, not many people interested.

Pasir Ris Hawker Centre is failing, Yishun Hawker Centre is failing. They are just next to fall.

Who wants to pay 50 cent to use the tray ?

Not many, most prefer to carry what they can carry without a tray. And spilling soup on the ground. More work for cleaners.

[Windwaver]

Quite near to Pioneer MRT la but this article didn't mention how much is average rental leh. 

[Tianmo]

3 hours ago, Watwheels said:

I think there's another market & hawker center not too far away call 505.

This wan must be boh nang patronise.

Yah, this one is 冷冷清清冷冷, 清清冷冷清清....

Before they start, koufu, and 24hrs McD was already there and  both on ground level, this one on level 2.

Giant is just beside it inside the mall.

Just not too far away is the 9xx coffee shops and dry market, with all the shops. 

Gone is sooner or later one...

[Tianmo]

3 hours ago, Kangadrool said:

It was designed to fail in the first place, probably to prove that Singaporeans no longer like  wet markets and hawker centres, pushing further into their agenda of mega malls and airconditioned food courts. 

yah, I also think they have failing in mind when they started the project. Didnt make any sense to me why it was set up there...

[13177]

19 minutes ago, Tianmo said:

Yah, this one is 冷冷清清冷冷, 清清冷冷清清....

Before they start, koufu, and 24hrs McD was already there and  both on ground level, this one on level 2.

Giant is just beside it inside the mall.

Just not too far away is the 9xx coffee shops and dry market, with all the shops. 

Gone is sooner or later one...

Maybe jurong west area not suitable to have a hc? Even if they build this hc at boon lay mrt area, maybe also not much business due to jurong point? But the hc at 505 jurong west very crowded lo.

Edited May 6, 2020 by 13177

[Kangadrool]

3 hours ago, Hamburger said:

Wet market pricing can be more ex for all you know.

 

Try compare pricing and see who is carrot.

For wet markets (raw foods), typically will be more ex than SS/FP or even Giant/CS due to scale/negotiation power. Sometimes, the buy in price for small time hawkers will be higher than selling price at supermarkets. 

For cooked foods, old hawker centres generally will still be cheaper and tastier than airconditioned food courts and NEW hawker centres like JW.

Edited May 6, 2020 by Kangadrool

[Kangadrool]

14 minutes ago, 13177 said:

Maybe jurong west area not suitable to have a hc? Even if they build this hc at boon lay mrt area, maybe also not much business due to jurong point? But the hc at 505 jurong west very crowded lo.

Who would want to eat the same thing at the same price at hot stuffy HC when the same KF airconditioned FC is just few steps away at the Pioneer Mall? Some more, need to pay 50 cents for tray.