And Here's to You Mrs Robinson - The Passing of An Icon

[PhantomX]

I am reading with great saddness the announcement that a great shopping Icon will pass from the Singapore retail as we now know it. Robinsons is being sold off from the OCBC stable of companies and almost certainly the new owners will change the shopping experience there as we've known for years.
I am here to register this great saddness and am asking forum contributors to say their piece about their experiences/memories there as a tribute to the legendary service and range of merchandise that this institution offered Singaporeans and visitors over the generations.
Vale

[joop]

Aww man...

Robinson's is my leading favourite shopping place!! Change of hands would mean change of product range, customer service, etc.... it's sad!

Any idea that it will still uphold its same products & competitve prices?

:blues:

[PhantomX]

Angel
Don't really know. All depends on the new owners and whether they appoint new managers and whether these managers will continue the policies of the old team.
My guess is that there will be major changes and the way we have been used to Robinsons doing things the way they have over all these years will no longer be. SIgh sob sob ...
All we can ask of the new managers is not to change the formula too much. If people do not find things to their liking, they will shop elsewhere. The thing about Robinsons is that they do offer great quality at very very reasonable prices and their sales are indeed genuine sales. The level of trust between the shopping public and them is very very real and deep. This is in contrast with the likes of the Japanese Stores eg Sogo, Daimaru, Yaohan.. which have lost their business franchise and even disappeared completely... and to imagine that there were many of us who thought they would snuff the lkes of Robinsons out of existence with the way they dominated the market in the 80s and the early to mid 90s! :O

[PhantomX]

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/sub/ ... 7,00.html?
Read this Business Times article about the fierce loyalty that Robinsons commands and you'll understand what I mean

[PhantomX]

[url]http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/stor ... 0.html[url]

Update about the management taking a stance on ensuring new owner will continue the tradition of retailing that Robinsons has been renowned for. Wonder how effective this will be... as assurances given on handover may not be honoured with the passage of time. :
Any thoughts on this all you loyal Robinsons supporters out there?