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While the hawkers at the ongoing Geylang Serai Bazaar appear to be flourishing, rental prices there have significantly increased, reported The Straits Times.
For instance, 24-year-old Jay Kwek had leased two stalls in 2015 and 2016 for SGD10,000 and SGD16,000 respectively. But it nearly doubled to SGD30,000 this year, said the entrepreneur who sells foods like fried Oreos and Thai milk tea.
Likewise, 28-year-old Suriyah Selvarajah, whose family specialises in fried savoury doughnuts known as vadai, paid SGD17,000 to lease one stall this year compared to SGD15,000 and SGD10,000 in the past two years.
The bazaar, which is held during the Ramadan month, houses over 900 stalls in Engku Aman Road and Geylang Road, with rental prices depending on the location. Retail stalls such as those for clothes only costs SGD$7,000, but those selling food could go as high as SGD17,000. The lease is valid until 24 June, the day before Hari Raya Puasa.
According to regular stall occupants, the rising rents is due to increasingly high bids submitted by Venture Trade Fair’s Manager Tay Khoon Hua and Alan Toh of Ability Trade Fair, two big players who have won the rights to run the entire bazaar in the previous year.
The trade-fair organisers are selected via two tenders carried out by Geylang Serai Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) and approved by the People’s Association.
Given the large number of crowds that visit the bazaar, the bids have recently been rising by 10% per annum, noted Geylang Serai CCC Chairman Eric Wong.
This year, Venture won one of the two tenders for SGD1.56 million, while Ability secured the other for SGD1.79 million, with both submitting the highest bids.
Tay said he nearly doubled his offer for the same space from last year’s winning bid of SGD$800,000 given the stiff competition. Nevertheless, the spaces remain sought-after even though he increased the rents for the food stalls by SGD3,000.
“Most of the food stalls are run by young people. They are not as concerned about the rent as they are about whether their products can attract crowds,” he noted, adding that his profit margin ranges from 5% to 10%.
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