Centre Point

Location: Centre Point (176 Orchard Road, Singapore 238843)

Brief Introduction:

The Centrepoint is a shopping mall in Singapore which opened in 1983 as Centrepoint Shopping Centre until it was renamed as The Centrepoint in 2006. The mall has a few anchor tenants like Robinsons, Marks & Spencer, The Dairy Farm Group, which includes 7-Eleven, Cold Storage, Guardian Pharmacy and Gap. It is managed by Frasers Centrepoint Limited which is one of Singapore's top three residential property developers and retail mall owners and operators. The Centrepoint Mall has six storeys as well as two basements.  There are also apartments at the back of the building.


History:

 In 2005, the mall went through a major renovation and this was the first revamp ever since its opening. This revamp was completed in 2006 and a new six-story extension was then added into the mall. The mall has over 170 stores and services including 5 major tenants that include Robinsons, Marks & Spencers, The Dairy Farm group, Gap, and Esprit. The Centrepoint was just simply Cold Storage in the past. Hence, the currently existing Cold Storage in The Centrepoint is the oldest one in Singapore and probably also one of the oldest surviving business establishment in Orchard. The mall is a very popular tourist attraction, and is also very popular among us Singaporeans too. It is one of the liveliest malls in Singapore, especially during Christmas periods, and any other major festivals. All traffic would come to a stop whenever a train crossed the bridge. The interesting thing about it is that it was believed that bad luck would befall to anyone if caught "under" a moving train. Until today, the window displays on the ground floor of Centrepoint belong to Robinsons department store, founded by an Englishman in Singapore. When it started off as a shop in the 1850s, Robinsons sold mainly only basic food products. At the basement level of the building, is where Cold Storage supermarket offers icecream, just as it did in late 1903 - when it was the first to bring ice-cream to Singapore! It then resided in a building which was eventually demolished and replaced by The Centrepoint, which had its official opening in 1983.

Land use:

CentrePoint has many different shops in it, such as clothes and food outlets. It was previously Robinson’s department store 53 years ago in 1958. The main reason why 176 Orchard Road, this location is mainly used for retail is as it is situated in a convenient location where it is easily accessible. Therefore, a larger number of people would be able to visit the place in a shorter period of time. Also, there are many other different facilities nearby, enticing people to visit The Centrepoint to shop too. People can now come here for different uses such as shopping. Due to having many different facilities in one building, The CentrePoint is a mixed landuse building.

Changes through years:

1858 - Originally known as Robinson, it was founded in 1858 by Philip Robinson, an immigrant from Australia and James Gaborian Spicer, a former keeper of Singapore Jail. It started as a family warehouse at Commercial Square, now known as Raffles Place, and was renamed Robinson and Company at the end of 1859 when Spicer left the business and a new partner, George Rappa, was brought in.


1881 - By 1881, it was a dominant store among the European community in Singapore. 1891 – 1920 - It moved several times before re-locating back to Raffles Place in 1891 and became a limited company in 1920. It was twice hit by bombs during World War II and was closed during the Japanese Occupation.


1945 - When the British returned to Singapore in 1945, the Robinson's building served as the headquarters of Naafi and Ensa, the Allied services entertainment organisation.


1946 – 1957 - It resumed trade in 1946, and took over John Little in 1955. In 1957, it had a facelift that earned it the name "handsomest shop in the Far East". 1972 - Its landmark building at Raffles Place was destroyed by an infamous fire in 1972, killing nine people and destroying S$21million worth of property.


1983 – Present- It relocated to Specialists' Centre in Orchard Road as a result, and thereafter have been the anchor tenant in Centrepoint since 1983.

 Compare and Contrast:

The Centrepoint was similar in the past and now in terms of its main purpose of use. In the past, the Centrepoint was mainly used to house Robinsons Department Store and other small shops for shopping. Similarly, it is also mainly used for these purposes. However, now, instead of just Robinsons, there are also other shops such as Marks & Spencer, The Dairy Farm Group and Esprit. Hence, this implies that Centrepoint is being used for commercial and shopping purposes and has not really changed in terms of the purpose of it.