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SINGAPORE: Who says business and pleasure don’t mix? Not Sulian Tan-Wijaya, that’s for sure.
Flip through any glossy society magazine and inevitably you will come across a photo or two of her at some ritzy event or even as her alter ego, DJ Sulian, hitting the decks at a club. Her latest outing in that incarnation was last weekend at IndoChine’s Forbidden City outlet.
But while the 43-year-old mother of two teenagers might look as though she is just having fun, it’s all part of, and an extension, her day job.
She attends “three to four parties a week” and professes that there are times when she is “so tired, I’d rather stay home”. But the socialising is essential because “each time I go out, I will meet one or two business associates to talk shop with”.
That is a work philosophy that has paid off in spades. For the past year or so, Sulian has been the general manager of Sino Land’s Fullerton Heritage, a clutch of properties with a gross area of around 1.4 million square feet that includes the revamped Clifford Pier, The Fullerton Hotel and One Fullerton.
It has been a task that has resulted, not least, in a revamped One Fullerton and its fresh tenant mix.
Her careful selection of the F & B base has resulted in eateries such as modern Cantonese restaurant Jing and fine dining Italian restaurant Forlino, and modern eatery Over Easy setting up shop at the two-storey waterfront building andgiving it a new buzz.
Then there’s her other coup de grace — persuading Singapore-born, British-based fashion designer Ashley Isham to open a boutique at The Fullerton Hotel.
On Wednesday, Sulian starts a new job that will tap on her expertise even more — as senior director of retail and lifestyle with real estate service provider Savills.
It is a job that will help “enhance the reputation of Singapore as a retail and lifestyle hub,” because Sulian will “work with different companies and different developers”. It will, as she says, see her “putting in retail brands or restaurants anywhere — in Orchard Road or... as far as one-north”.
After all, the future of retailing also lies in the satellite living areas — which, according to the URA masterplan theme of “Where our future is. Great opportunities, good life” will be beyond Orchard Road and Marina Bay and in areas such as Paya Lebar Central and Hillview.
We are far from being an over-shopped nation. But given the plethora of cookie cutter brands and shopping centres, whither the future of retailing? “Even as we speak, there are still new brands wanting to come in,” says Sulian, who trained in law and who prior to joining Sino Land, was with the Singapore Tourism Board as Director, Service Quality.
“Very few people saw the extent to which Orchard Road would grow, even as recently as three years ago, “ she says. “For that matter, I never thought you and I would be sitting here at One Fullerton having coffee... with the F1 cars passing by. It is all very surreal...”
Not quite as surreal, but just as exciting as the future of retailing evolving into dedicated shopping streets. While they can’t be all be like Rodeo Drive and Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles (two of her personal favourites) such places would enhance the shopping experience in Singapore, says Sulian citing Club Street in Chinatown as a possible location. She cites Holland Village as an example of something developing organically when “there is a common vision”.
In the shopping centres, changes are afoot as well. Developers and tenants are developing a common vision too and there are increasingly “sophisticated landlords” says Sulian who realise that when it comes to deciding between higher rents and better tenants, adopting a “win win approach” with a “first class tenant” would definitely increase the valuation of a property.
And just who might these tenants be? As Sulian puts it: “There is room for mid-range brands such as H & M... And ‘mass-tige’ ones such as Victoria’s Secret...”
Now that will really perk up the retailing scene ... - TODAY/ar
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