Singapore's Newest Underground Mall is Reporting Brisk Business

SINGAPORE: The Marina Bay Link Mall, one of Singapore's newest underground malls, is reporting brisk business after just a month of opening.

Some tenants said sales have doubled since they started operations. The mall has a catchment of about 55,000 workers and residents in the area. The number is expected to grow with additional condominiums being built. Currently, four in 10 of the retail space is occupied by food and beverage outlets.

By the first quarter of 2012, another 82,500 sq feet of retail space will be added. Tenders will be called for by the first quarter of 2011. Already more than half of the new space has been committed for banking services and DBS Bank is taking up 66 per cent of the new space.

"There is a huge population out here, from Raffles Place to Tanjong Pagar, to Shenton Way, and now at the Marina Bay area. There can be never too many shops and F&B. We need to make sure that we just have the quality, the good mix, and of course great customer service, to keep them coming back," said Rose Tong, director of Marketing, Retail, with Raffles Quay Asset Management.

The Greatest Annual Celebration of the Bay Area

The greatest annual celebration of the Bay Area rock music scene is upon us -- SF Winter MusicFest. It's not the most widely known festival. Or the flashiest. Or the one with the biggest headliners. But it is the one that does -- by far -- the best job in showcasing local talent. And, really, what else would you want from a Bay Area alt-rock festival?

Winter MusicFest, the live music arm of the coinciding SF IndieFest film festival, runs Friday night through Feb. 18, mainly at CELLspace, 2050 Bryant St., San Francisco. The two-week fandango, now in its sophomore year, will feature more than 40 acts, the vast majority of which are local.

Here are just five can't-miss acts:

Thief: The East Bay funk-rock troupe will attempt to steal your heart Friday.

Bite: The old-school Bay Area punk band, which has performed alongside members of Hanoi Rocks and the Ramones, performs Sunday.

Gutwrench: The South San Francisco hard-core punk act, fueled by a buzz-saw, two-guitar attack, performs Feb. 10.

The Agent Deadlies: Ska-punk act from Pacifica, with a rather Sublime sound, plays a 1 p.m. show on Feb. 12.

Harrington Saints: Nuts-and-bolts working-class rock from a group of Bay Area guys with the best band name I've heard in ages. Performs Feb. 17.

Safeway to Open 6 New Stores in the Bay Area

Safeway Inc. will combat an aggressive crop of rivals with an expansion that includes nine new stores in the West -- of which six will be in the Bay Area, the Pleasanton-based retailer said Monday. Pleasanton, Castro Valley, El Cerrito, Campbell, Los Gatos and Burlingame are the cities where Safeway plans to revamp or open stores this year, said Karl Schroeder, president of Safeway's Northern California Division.

"We are not just in a defensive stance," Schroeder said. "We also are going on offense in terms of building our business and building our market share." In addition, the grocery giant is working to obtain city approvals for stores in Pleasant Hill, Emeryville and Berkeley. The company also is eyeing a new store in the Oakland hills on Redwood Road, and it remodeled a store in Oakland's Montclair district. The pace of store openings in the western United States is more intense than has lately been the case for Safeway, the company said.

"We are clearly opening more new stores in 2011 than we have opened in any one year over the last four or five years," Schroeder said.

"We often are taking advantage of sites in great locations where retailers had left," Schroeder said. "The empty locations create new opportunities for us." In recent months, an array of Safeway rivals have disclosed plans for new stores in numerous spots in the Bay Area. During 2011, Berkeley-based Grocery Outlet, Fresh & Easy, Foods Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Henry's Farmers Market each plan to open at least one new store in the Bay Area.

Even though Safeway has a strong brand in the Bay Area, the company is wise to look for expansion opportunities where it can. "They want to remodel the stores that need to be updated," said Mike Costa, a broker with commercial realty firm Terranomics. "But they also are looking to seize the opportunity to get into a trade area." Analysts think that Safeway is wise to attempt to find vacant retail properties for expansion.
"They are taking advantage of the price bargains out there," said Robert Reynolds, principal analyst with Moraga-based Reynolds Economics, a retail consulting firm. "There are a lot of empty boxes around that can be filled." Safeway also is responding, in part, to the expansions by rival grocers.

"It's partly a defensive move, but it's also a move on offense," Costa said. "But Safeway is a great operator, they do a great job, and they are building on their great brand in the area."