Isetan outlet at 1 Utama closes after a decade of operations

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Isetan Malaysia will be closing its store at 1 Utama shopping centre, after operating there for a decade. Isetan 1 Utama said in a Facebook post that its last day of operations will be on 5 April 2022. "After 10 amazing years at 1 Utama, we would like to thank everyone for your unconditional support throughout," the post said.

Isetan Malaysia also assured customers that its other stores in Kuala Lumpur - Suria KLCC, The Gardens Mall, The Japan Store LOT 10 - will remain open for business. It also encouraged customers to shop via its online store after the closure of its store at 1 Utama. The announcement of Isetan 1 Utama's closure was also made known to online shoppers through a pop-up ad. Isetan Malaysia did not disclose the reason behind the store's closure in its post.

https://www.facebook.com/isetankl/posts/4639425752785537

Additionally, Isetan Singapore is also closing one of its stores next year. The department store said in a statement about three months ago that it would be closing its Katong store, located at Parkway Parade shopping mall. It cited that the closure was due to the expiry of its lease at the shopping mall. "Negotiations with the Landlord for a further extension of the lease did not yield a positive result," Isetan Singapore said.

While Isetan Singapore has not confirmed its last day of operations at Katong, it said that its lease will expire on 9 March 2022. Isetan Katong will also provide its customers with an array of special sales events as a token of gratitude for their continued support since its opening almost four decades ago, in 1983.

https://www.facebook.com/isetansg/posts/4696122693765484

Separately, 1 Utama banked in on several initiatives to boost footfall into the shopping centre. In March last year, it unveiled a RM1 million stimulus package to boost spending in the mall, following the lull period after Chinese New Year and Christmas. The retail stimulus package comprised multiple sales-driven campaigns, with the first phase involving a series of weekly promotions in the form of tenant vouchers and cashback. These were done via its ONECARD loyalty programme.

1 Utama then injected another RM1 million into its retail stimulus package in June 2020. 1 Utama’s retail stimulus package was launched on 26 June in the form of an additional RM1 million worth of smart e-cash vouchers which were personalised to each qualified shopper’s shopping preferences. The cash vouchers were fully funded by 1 Utama.

In September this year, 1 Utama banked in on organic publicity from its BTS pop-up store to draw footfall into the shopping centre. The pop-up store was in line with 1 Utama's expansion plans of bringing in a series of Korean attractions to its Korean-themed retail zone, District K, for shoppers. The store's interior was set up into distinctive experiential zones that aimed to take fans on a walk down memory lane, showcasing the different eras of BTS's music career. Each zone was also specifically decorated to recreate BTS music video sets and corresponding tracks from the band's most popular albums.

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