From TikTok to trendy sports, Queensway shops find ways to thrive amid retail disruption

SINGAPORE – In the four-storey labyrinth of sneaker and football gear shops, and bustling laksa and curry stalls at Queensway Shopping Centre, is a modest racket store that has found its way into the limelight.

Occasionally, tourists hunt down the second-storey shop to get the latest badminton or tennis equipment, along with a wefie with its manager and racket-stringer Mohamed Hashim Marecar.

The 22-year-old is the face of a retail revival for Smashsports, a racket shop started by his father in the early 2000s. Mr Hashim’s savvy use of social media has led to Smashsports’ videos on TikTok attracting as many as six million views – in turn attracting customers to the store.

Business has grown so much that Smashsports has added another unit on the first floor and Mr Hashim’s older brother Mohaiyadeen, 36, recently left his job at a multinational corporation to work full-time there.

Smashsports and several other shops are defying the perception that Queensway Shopping Centre is a “dying mall”. One of Singapore’s oldest shopping centres, it opened in 1976 and the $10 million strata mall development eventually became the go-to destination for sports apparel and goods.

But the rise of e-commerce and changing consumer habits have led to the decline of many brick-and-mortar retailers with major brands like Topshop, Esprit and Robinson exiting the Singapore market. Sports retailers like World of Sports and Royal Sporting House have also been hit.

An Opinion piece in The Straits Times published on May 8, “Queensway could be the next casualty in sportswear upheaval”, noted that the niche the mall had carved for itself was “facing a reckoning”.

It drew a response from some readers and Queensway shop owners, including Mr Mandeep Chopra, whose family has been part of the mall’s community since the 1990s.

The managing director of home-grown sneaker boutique Limited Edt said in a Forum letter that his family continues to operate several successful stores there and argued that the Opinion piece did not reflect the diverse group of thriving tenants who “continue to serve the sporting community with passion and innovation”.

In another Forum letter, Mr Ng Kim Meng, managing agent at The Management Corporation which oversees Queensway, said that the shopping centre remains a cherished destination for sports enthusiasts and this is why it is affectionately known as Singapore’s sports mall.

Despite the moniker, footfall at Queensway has dwindled over time and some businesses have shuttered, including longtime anchor tenant Sportslink, which ceased operations in 2020 after financial troubles led to liquidation.

While the days of a steady stream of visitors throughout the week may now be limited to weekends, many sports retailers there told The Straits Times they have found ways to thrive, even as others struggle to stay afloat.

Connecting with customers through social media

Smashsports gets more than 100 walk-in customers daily, with an additional 150 online orders from overseas. This is a far cry from the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the business had no customers and zero revenue.

Mr Mohaiyadeen said: “Over the years, together with our father, we have been making sure this family business keeps going, and there are a lot of hurdles along the way. But the biggest one was Covid-19. It was during this period that my brother had an idea to use social media to raise awareness about our shop, our products and our services.”

Queensway Shopping Centre first opened its doors in 1976. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Mr Hashim said he learnt video-editing through YouTube and Google. His humorous personality and informative and engaging videos have appealed to TikTok audiences.

“What sets us apart from other content creators is that we tell you directly what a particular racket is good for, how it works, and all within a minute. People find it easy to digest and also entertaining,” he said.

After their social media push, the store saw increased footfall and would be packed on weekends, with sales picking up about 20 per cent.

In late 2020, Smashsports started to ship overseas to its customers.

Mr Hashim’s online profile has also been crucial in spreading the word that Queensway is still in operation. He noted that some people mistakenly thought that the mall had closed after hearing about a potential collective sale.

In 2019, unit owners at Queensway and its adjoining residential block, Queensway Tower, tried selling the properties en bloc, but the bid fell through when more than 20 per cent of owners by share value opposed the proposal.

Also on the social media bandwagon is Hello Sports, another racket shop that was set up in 2007.

Co-owner Ahamed Raja Ali Marican, 41, said: “These are the things we have to do, and we need to follow the market now. A lot of customers see our TikTok from overseas. They see them, then they come and buy from us.”

Riding the trends

Hello Sports and Smashsports have also kept up with evolving trends by moving into the pickleball and padel market as both sports boomed in popularity in recent years.

Both stores now carry an extensive range of pickleball and padel bats. Beyond keeping up with the times, the businesses that specialise in rackets have built strong customer trust through their stringing services.

Customers share their specific preferences for how they want their rackets strung and return a few days later to pick up their perfectly customised gear.

Mr Lu Chisen, 77, a Chinese antiques consultant, gets his tennis rackets strung almost every month at Queensway. It costs him around $25 for each racket at Sports Report, which opened at the mall about 13 years ago.

Mr Lu said that the personal touch provided by shop owner Whang Soon Ann is priceless.

“I come here for all my tennis needs... it is good to have somebody who has the time and is prepared to talk to you and to tell you what is suitable, to give you advice. Whereas if you go online, you get nothing, you just pay your price and take your goods,” he said.

Playing to their strengths

Other retailers at Queenway like Weston Corporation – one of Singapore’s most popular football merchandise and equipment stores – and running retailer iRun continue to thrive by staying true to their core strengths and decades of expertise.

Weston Corp set up its Queensway store in the 1990s and has continued to specialise in the latest football kits and boots. For example, during the 2022 Fifa World Cup, Weston carried the jerseys of all 32 participating teams.

In a sign of its success at Queensway, the outlet remains the top-performing location among its eight stores in Singapore. In 2022, it opened a bigger flagship unit on the third floor of the mall.

Mr Ami Chopra, 46, who is in charge of Weston’s football operations, said: “Queensway for us, it is still our number one store all around Singapore, hands down. So, to me, it is still thriving. Football fashion is on the rise as well. These days, you see more women wearing football jerseys, and there are also more parents buying football jerseys and boots for their kids.”

He believes that Queensway’s niche offering will mean that it can stay popular and stand the test of time. While customers might visit other malls to browse or dine, he noted that those who shop there are not “jalan jalan shoppers” and have a clear intention to make a purchase.

Customers browsing World Cup jerseys at Weston Corp’s store in Queensway Shopping Centre on Dec 9, 2022. ST PHOTO: FELINE LIM

Mr Ahmed Shah, 65, manager of Sah Sports Centre which has been there since 1976, agreed, noting that when it comes to shoes, instead of shopping online “you come here, you try... you like the size, you like the colour, the price is right, you buy and go”.

In an interview with ST, Mr Mandeep said that the family’s iRun store in Queensway has continued to do well and is outperforming their more centrally located outlets.

He added that Queensway’s sports outlets have also benefited from a surge in interest in fitness activities such as running clubs, gym training and padel.

Active wear is also on shopping racks, as he noted that the mall currently has 36 sports-related stores, which is even higher than when Sportslink was in business.

Other new players have also moved in, such as fitness studio Body Fit Training, which opened its Queensway outlet last August to join existing tenant Anytime Fitness in the fitness space.

Mr Hasyim Ishak, general manager of BFT Queensway, which is operated by The ReFormd Group, said it gets an average of 800 visits a week, with members ranging from their 20s to early 40s. That makes it one of the more popular locations under the company’s stable, which includes outlets in Tanglin, River Valley, Toa Payoh, West Coast Plaza and Jurong.

He said: “Queensway Shopping Centre has always been the hub for all things sports and fitness. Every day, Singaporeans would travel the distance to get their sports apparel here. Last August, the mall took a big step towards their fitness offerings to get Body Fit Training into their premises, which has been popular with the community at Queensway.”

Weston Corporation’s Flagship store on the third floor of Queensway Shopping Centre. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

Some feel the retail blues

But not everybody is thriving, and some stores are feeling the strain.

Mr Whang, who is in his 60s, said that footfall at Sports Report has “reduced by a lot, and it had a bigger reduction since McDonald’s moved out in 2023”.

He added: “Footfall has fallen by at least 30 per cent over the last 13 years. All the people who have been here more than 10 to 30 years, they are surviving on their existing, loyal customer base. Only the fittest will continue to survive, but won’t grow.”

When asked if Queensway could still claim to be the go-to destination for sporting goods, he said with a grimace: “Yes, but it is declining. It won’t have an increase any more.”

A 38-year-old man, who wanted to be known only as Travis, told ST that he goes to Queensway only for a fix of his favourite laksa once a month and had stopped buying football equipment there.

“I used to come here a lot when I was younger to buy jerseys and football boots. But now, when you can just browse online to see where is the cheapest option, I don’t see the need to buy it here. I bought my last two (pairs of) football boots from Carousell, from someone who brings in boots from Japan.”

Is it a sunset for Queensway?

Mr Delwyn Mak, 25, an analyst at UOB, went from Sembawang to Queensway to buy a tennis racket on a weekday.

“I can try the racket and can feel the racket. Because if I go and buy online, then I cannot feel, so I would rather come here,” he said.

But he admitted that not everyone would make a similar trip.

“There is just not a lot of people coming here any more. People are buying stuff online. I don’t know how long this (drop in footfall) has been going on in Queensway, but I think maybe next decade (they might be) completely taken over by online shopping.”

Mr Ahmed said that, sometimes, business at Sah Sports “could be down by maybe 50 per cent compared to over the years”, but he noted that it is still possible to “survive” as there are sufficient crowds on weekends to make up for the quiet weekdays.

Customers shopping for sports shoes at Queensway Shopping Centre on May 27. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

He added: “If the business is bad, we would have gone for the en bloc, but we didn’t want to because the minute it goes through, it means we have to shift to another place. And we don’t think we will be successful in another place.”

Insurance agent Mohamed Shaheem has been a customer at Sah since he was a secondary school student.

The 44-year-old still prefers to try the product rather than buying it online.

He said: “A few times I tried to buy online, but ended up spending more because of the wrong size and stuff like that. So, I always come and look for uncle (Ahmed) to buy sportswear, and he can recommend stuff.

“I am quite active in sports, so whenever I want (gear), I will come, and now my kids also started playing some sports, so I will always bring them here.”

Ms Dorothy Gan, 22, a final-year accountancy student at Nanyang Technological University, said: “I think it is dying, but I don’t think it will completely die off because Queensway still remains at the forefront in sporting goods. All the athletes, they hear from their friends, their coaches, and they know to come here to buy shoes or to buy equipment.

“And I personally enjoy physically shopping, because shopping online doesn’t give me the same satisfaction, and I like to try it in person. And now, with the advent of technology, a lot of things are online, and there is no personal touch anymore.

“I feel like this place is more like a word of mouth. But actually, with the thrift stores, there has been a bit more exposure for Queensway Shopping Centre as a whole.”

Deepanraj Ganesan is a sports journalist at The Straits Times focusing on football, athletics, combat sports and policy-related news.

Melvyn Teoh is a sports journalist at The Straits Times.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

Click here to read article