Sales rise after quarantine-free travel for retailers

SINGAPORE: Business is trickling in for dismal stores selling travel necessities such as luggage and winter wear, providing retailers with some relief after a year and a half of pandemic sales.

Most stores CNA spoke to said sales have risen between 10 and 15 per cent, following recent announcements about quarantine-free travel under the vaccinated travel lane VTL scheme.

It was the best news we've had since 2020, said Ms Joyce Lim, director of wholesaler and retailer The Travel Store, which has seen sales at some of its stores rising by 15 per cent.

Some department stores have already contacted the company in the hopes of organising travel fairs in the middle of November, she said.

At lifestyle travel retailer Seager, where sales have grown about 10 per cent, customers are mostly buying luggage in larger sizes and accessories such as travel adapters and organisers, said Ms Aw Yang Chen Lin, a marketing executive at its parent company The Planet Traveller.

Luggage is also the top-selling item at Winter Time, followed by coats for cold weather, CNA's marketing manager Rebecca Poon told CNA. Sales there have improved by 10 to 15 per cent.

Moneychangers such as Mr Mohamed Rafeeq, who owns Clifford Gems Money Exchange in Raffles City, are also seeing a pick up in their business.

In one day we would have three to five customers, or zero sometimes.

Last week, I saw maybe 10 to 13 customers a day. From zero to 13, something is better, he said, noting that customers have mostly been looking to buy Korean won and euros.

There's so much relief I m very happy, said Mr Rafeeq.

The green shoots of recovery come after gruelling months of cost-cutting, despite several rounds of wage offsets and rental rebates for the industry.

Sales at the Travel Store plummeted by as much as 95 per cent, leading the brand to shut two of its five stores in Singapore.