Sim Lim Square
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| Sim Lim Square | |
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| Facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Rochor Canal Road, Rochor Planning Area, Singapore |
| Opening date | 1987 |
| No. of stores and services | 150 |
| No. of floors | 6 with 2 basements |
| Website | Official website |
Sim Lim Square (Chinese: 森林广场), commonly referred to as SLS, is an established 390,000 square feet commercial shopping centre specialising in electronics and IT Products in Singapore[1], and is generally regarded in modern day Singaporean culture as perhaps the most established "IT mall" compared to its closest competitors. Popular with both tourists and locals[2], CNET Asia has called it the "electronics hub of Singapore". [3]
Located at 1 Rochor Canal Road, Singapore, SLS is opposite to historic features such as the Little India district and is footsteps away from one of the earliest HDB developments. SLS is accessible via MRT at Bugis or Little India MRT Stations.
Sim Lim Square stands out by offering greater range and variety of a single product, compared to the more streamlined arrangement found in electronic malls such as Funan DigitaLife Mall.
Sim Lim Square has received a lot a criticism for shops being rude, impolite and aggressive towards potential customers.
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[edit] Product partitioning
The six-storey complex is equally partitioned for different lines of products. Stores on the first storey are commonly called the “Tourist Trap” by locals in the Tekka district, due to their preference for tourists, who are argued to have no specific knowledge in the local currency, and thus willing to pay more; the first storey collates the consumer electronics stores, such as DV camcorders, mobile phones, compact digital cameras.
Pro-AV equipment providers occupy the first storey. That also include several stores that cater to high quality, yet low-cost home entertainment products, such as home theater systems. Consumer-graded digital SLR camera dealers are partitioned in this storey as well. Although Sim Lim Square vendors collectively offer a wide range of electronics, many retailers in the past have been accused of selling inauthentic or unlicensed items, misleading consumers, and overcharging for certain products or bundles. [4]
Most IT-related products providers or dealers are found on the third to fifth storeys; most of the stores offer reasonably-priced IT-hardware. The top few storeys are also a haven for competitively priced consumer and high-end laptop and tablet PCs. Throughout the years, SLS has garnered reputation for offering competitive prices despite its cluttered and seemingly disorganized layout. Sim Lim Square is often the venue of choice for locals, and establishes its position via word-of-mouth.
Retailers in Sim Lim Square are known to get by with the aid of a thin marginal profit, and rely on high turnover for earnings. Rent for retailers in the mall has doubled for the past 1.5 years, making it comparable to retail space of those along Orchard Road. [5] During the late 1990s, the mall was flooded with as many as 20 stores dedicated to selling pirated software and movies. Towards the end of the century, however, the government's actions against piracy removed all of them.[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b Where geeks roam - Funan v Sim Lim, Alfred Siew, Digital Life on Singapore's 25 Years of Computerisation (The Straits Times), October 10 2006, p 14-15.
- ^ Oakley, Mat (February 2006). Lonely Planet Singapore, 7th Edition, Melbourne, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 1-74059-857-1.
- ^ "CNET Asia". "Notebook Price Watch".
- ^ Computer Times (November 5, 2003). Wading in an IT jungle. AsiaOne.
- ^ Crunch time as rents rise for Sim Lim Square shops, Alfred Siew, The Straits Times, October 16 2006, p3.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Daily Computer Parts Price Update from Sim Lim Square
- Computer Price List updated weekly
- SLS Bargains/Service Discussions
