Why Christmas is not the season to be jolly for Sheng Siong

It did not manage to clinch any HDB supermarkets.

Singapore supermarket giant Sheng Siong will definitely not go fa la la la la this Christmas season as it failed, once again, to clinch HDB Supermarkets.

Citing HDB's industrial and commercial property e-bidding portal, Maybank KimEng said a 288 sq meter lot in Tampines at Blk 878C Tampines Avenue was secured by a small supermarket chain, Yes Supermarket.

Owned by the Chairman of Tampines Merchant Association Mr. Kwek Hong Lom, Yes already operates four supermarkets in Tampines and appears to be attempting to monopolise the Tampines region, the brokerage firm noted.

Sheng Siong also failed to clinch a 311 sq meter shop lot in Sengkang. It was instead secured by an individual named Raymond Chan, which Maybank believes is from U Stars Supermarket, an operator of three supermarket outlets that recently diversified from its coffee shop roots.

Maybank said bidding prices have increased dramatically in the past two months from $15 psf to $17 psf. Yes Supermarket bid in Tampines exceeded $20 psf, while Sheng Siong only bidded $16.

"For the Compassvale site, it lost out narrowly to U Star with the winning bid only 3 cents higher. As for the Choa Chu Kang, we understand from management that it bidded up to only SGD16 as well," the firm added.