Metro Singapore's history: From Hollywood-inspired name to Orchard Road heyday and final closures
Metro is set to close its last two remaining department stores in Paragon and Causeway Point malls as part of a retail overhaul, marking a significant shift in the retail giant's history.
Metro department store's outlet at Causeway Point. (File photo: Metro website)
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SINGAPORE: After nearly 70 years in Singapore, Metro is set to embark on a new chapter.
The department store giant will shutter its last two remaining department stores in Paragon and Causeway Point malls when the current leases expire, though the dates are not known. The plan in review is to move away from traditional large-format stores.
CNA revisits Metro's transformation from a small textile shop to a recognisable name in the shopping scene here.
The early years
Before it started operating in Singapore, Metro already had a store in Surabaya, Indonesia in 1953. A second store in 1955 was later dissolved when growing anti-Chinese sentiments in Indonesia were thought to affect business.
Its founder, the late Indonesian entrepreneur Ong Tjoe Kim, then decided to restart the business in Singapore, he said in an oral history interview with the National Archives of Singapore.
In 1957, he opened the first store here at 72 High Street (between Hill Street and North Bridge Road), which was a two-storey shophouse measuring merely 250 sq m.
He chose the location because he thought it was more upmarket than Chinatown.
A movie buff, Ong named the store after the Hollywood production house Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), shortening it to Metro to make it easy to remember.
This was because "people loved the movies, and they were familiar with MGM, which made good movies", he said in a past interview with The Straits Times.
He even invited a movie star, Hong Kong actress Li Mei, to snip the symbolic ribbon on the store's opening day – becoming the first retailer in Singapore to do so.
Metro started as a textile shop selling a wide range of fabrics used for making traditional clothing such as the sarong kebaya and cheongsam worn by the ethnic communities here.
It was a hub for imported fashion and fabrics throughout the 1960s, selling lace from France, embroidery from Switzerland and linen from America.
While department stores Robinsons and Tangs catered to expatriates and Singapore residents respectively, Metro targeted wealthy housewives from Singapore and Indonesia.
Many of its early customers were Mr Ong's Indonesian friends who shopped in bulk at his store.
In 1965, Metro expanded and opened a department store in Liat Towers along Orchard Road named Metrotex.
It was later renamed Metro Orchard when it moved to the Holiday Inn Shopping Complex on Scotts Road in 1973.
Metro Supreme in Supreme House, located on Penang Road in the Orchard Road shopping belt, was officially opened in 1971.
Again, a Hong Kong actress, Nora Miao – who starred opposite martial arts legend Bruce Lee in several movies – was invited to the opening.
Since the 1970s, it had established itself as a leading distributor and agent of several foreign brands, bringing in European luxury brands such as Cartier, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent and Monet, as well as other foreign brands such as Toys "R" Us, Tag-Heuer, Esprit and Burberry.
SGX listing, the boom years
Metro Holdings Limited was formed in 1973 to take over the three existing Metro department stores at the time.
The company was incorporated and listed on the main board of the Singapore Stock Exchange later that year.
In 1979, it also entered the market for fine watches through the establishment of The Hour Glass – which it later divested.
At its peak in the 1970s, Metro had five department stores housed in various shopping centres along Orchard Road, including Far East Plaza.
It opened Singapore's first "high-end" department store, Metro Grand Store, in Lucky Plaza in 1978.
The group later entered the suburban areas in the 1970s with branches in Bukit Timah Plaza and Marine Parade – but these were closed in the late 1980s.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Metro served as a springboard for domestic and regional designers, and launched the Marissa clothing label.
It re-entered the suburban areas in the 1990s and 2000s with stores in various malls, namely Century Square in Tampines, Causeway Point in Woodlands, Compass Point in Sengkang and City Square Mall near Little India.
Venture into property development, stake in Ngee Ann City
Metro ventured into property development by searching for a prime location along Orchard Road for a Metro department store.
In 1976, it acquired Orchard Square Development Corporation, which owned a prime leased site with frontage along Orchard Road.
Work on what was to become Ngee Ann City later began in 1989, with Metro having a 27 per cent stake in the retail and office complex, which was completed in 1993. It leased space on the premises to Japanese retailer Takashimaya Department Store.
In 2003, Metro Group sold its investment in Ngee Ann City for a profit.
Outside of Singapore, its subsidiary Metrobilt entered into a joint venture in 1987 to develop office property in Guangzhou, China.
More joint ventures followed in later years as the group developed properties in Penang, Malaysia.
Besides property development, Metro further diversified into the construction, leisure, marketing and distribution sectors.
In construction, Metrobilt joined other contractors in a joint venture to complete the second phase of the Central Expressway in Singapore in 1991.
In the leisure business, Metro launched Sun Cruises and opened The Oasis Resort in Cairns, Australia. It eventually exited the cruise business in 2000.
Store closures
Across the 2000s and 2010s, Metro slowly closed a string of department stores across Singapore.
By 2015, it had just three outlets left across the island.
It later established its online store in 2017 in response to changing trends.
In 2019, Metro closed its six-storey flagship store at The Centrepoint mall after five years there, leaving just its Paragon and Causeway Point stores.
The Metro Group now operates two core business segments: retail and property investment and development, with a focus on five key markets that are Australia, China, Indonesia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
