Japan Home is retreating and rents are rising. Singapore retail could pay the price - The Business Times

Cheap imports and free shipping are changing retail. The Republic must decide which shops it needs to keep

JAPAN Home’s recent retreat from the retail scene should concern more than bargain hunters. The household-goods chain closed several Singapore outlets in June and July, before licensing its remaining stores to Radha Exports, the company behind Value Dollar (Valu$).

Its loss for the financial year ended April 2025 more than doubled to S$2.3 million from a year earlier.

The story captures a larger contradiction. In the second quarter of 2026, Urban Redevelopment Authority’s retail rental index rose 0.6 per cent. Yet occupied retail space fell by a net 37,000 square metres, and the islandwide vacancy rate edged up from 6.3 to 6.5 per cent.

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