In Singapore, the shopping mall rules supreme. It is where everything is. Besides the regular stores, the grocery stores are located in the mall. Restaurants are located in the mall. And not just food court restaurants, the nice 5 star restaurants are in the mall.
The malls are also organized by type. For example, Paragon is the high end mall, with Versace, Gucci, etc. United Square is the children's mall, with many children's clothing stores. Sim Lin Square is the IT mall. Or if they carry diverse lines of products, the mall will be organized by floor. For example, at Paragon, the fifth floor has the children's clothing stores as well as Toys R Us. Of course, there are common stores among the malls, the most notable being Cold Storage, which is the grocery store.
The other interesting thing is that nearly all malls have a playground in it. This is great for rainy days. The city of Singapore actually has quite a few public playgrounds, in good shape (there is no graffiti), but since you spend so much time at the mall, or as a way to lure people to your mall, there are playgrounds there. Vivo City actually has a water play area in their playground (it is outdoor).
The malls are quite competitive in terms of trying to get people to come, with many promotions of "spend $50, get a free gift" but we have found that in terms of prices of the actual goods they are pretty much the same wherever you go, so comparison shopping is not needed.
Prices are not as great as we had thought, and there is 7% GST (I think it's 7% maybe 6%), but selection and sheer volume certainly beats Nassau.
The malls are also organized by type. For example, Paragon is the high end mall, with Versace, Gucci, etc. United Square is the children's mall, with many children's clothing stores. Sim Lin Square is the IT mall. Or if they carry diverse lines of products, the mall will be organized by floor. For example, at Paragon, the fifth floor has the children's clothing stores as well as Toys R Us. Of course, there are common stores among the malls, the most notable being Cold Storage, which is the grocery store.
The other interesting thing is that nearly all malls have a playground in it. This is great for rainy days. The city of Singapore actually has quite a few public playgrounds, in good shape (there is no graffiti), but since you spend so much time at the mall, or as a way to lure people to your mall, there are playgrounds there. Vivo City actually has a water play area in their playground (it is outdoor).
The malls are quite competitive in terms of trying to get people to come, with many promotions of "spend $50, get a free gift" but we have found that in terms of prices of the actual goods they are pretty much the same wherever you go, so comparison shopping is not needed.
Prices are not as great as we had thought, and there is 7% GST (I think it's 7% maybe 6%), but selection and sheer volume certainly beats Nassau.
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