The Cathay

Site Analysis

The Cathay

The Cathay is a shopping centre located at Handy Road and Mount Sophia in Singapore’s Museum Planning Area. The location is classified under Dhouby Ghaut area. It is not just a shopping centre but also a cinema and apartment which add up to 17 floors. The Cathay covers 168,000 square foot of retail floor area approximately.

Previously, it was called Cathay Building when the building initially launched in 3 October 1939. However, in 2000 it was closed for redevelopment and launched again in 24 March 2006. Though it went for redevelopment, the new building still used elements of the old Cathay Building which was nationally announced as a national monument.

The Cathay is owned and managed by Cathay Organisation Holdings Limited. Cathay Organisation is a leading leisure and entertainment groups operate in both Singapore and Malaysia. Another shopping centre managed under them is Cathay Cineleisure Orchard. It is located behind Meritus Mandarin Hotel.

The Cathay is classified as lifestyle shopping centre. They do not have any departmental store as an anchor tenant but provides vibrant and huge amount of retail outlets and entertainment centre. The Cathay has a total of 17 floors where five floors consist of all the retail outlets, two floors are occupied by their main trade, The Cathay Cineplex, and nine floors of The Cathay Residences.

The Cathay is known for its Cineplex, thus, becoming the main trade there. Most of the shoppers visit it for one main purpose which is to watch movie. The Cathay Cineplex is a movie theatre with eight halls that is located at the sixth and seventh storey. The halls include 600-seat Grand Cathay and The Picturehouse. The Picturehouse became Singapore’s first and only arthouse cinema with 82 Poltrona Faru Oscar seats.

The five floors of retail outlets offer countless shopping choices with an assorted tenants mix from beauty to fashion, food & beverages and gift ideas. Most of the food and beverages outlets are located at the Basement level. Level one to four consists of the other retail outlets that offer lifestyle related merchandise such as The Commercial Press, E2Max, Gramophone, and etc. More details on tenants mix will be discussed in the post.

The Cathay Residences consists of 76 units from levels 9 to 17. There is swimming pool, tennis court and garden built at the ninth floor. It was opened at the end 2006 and apartments can only be lease.

Location

Dhouby Ghaut is located around Orchard Road. Orchard Road is well-known for Singapore’s shopping district. Thus, by locating The Cathay around Dhouby Ghaut can draw many shoppers and tourists.

The Cathay is surrounded by a few places of attractions like Fort Canning Park, Singapore Philatelic Museum, Civil Defence Heritage Gallery, and Singapore Art Museum. There is also a nearby accommodation which is the Rendezvous Hotel. By locating around this attractions and accommodation, The Cathay can attract more tourists.

To add on, The Cathay is also surrounded by many education centres like Singapore Management University (SMU) and Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS). In the future, there will be another new education centre called School of the Arts (SOTA). This allows to reach their young target markets.

In short, The Cathay is located at highly visible area.

Transportation

The Cathay is easily accessible by both public and personal transportation.

By public transport, shoppers can travel through various ways such as taxi, buses or train. There is a nearby taxi stand located just beside The Cathay. Shoppers who prefer to travel by bus can take the different bus services such as 7, 14, 65, 174, and Express 518, and etc. For those shoppers who prefer to travel by the train can alight at the nearest MRT station which is Dhouby Ghaut MRT Station.

By personal transportation, shoppers can exit Central Expressway (CTE) to get there. There are two locations of parking lots provided by The Cathay. Shoppers may choose to park at Handy Road or Mount Sophia parking lots.

Size and Shape of Trading Area Analysis

Looking at location and transportations availability of The Cathay, the size and shape of it trading analysis can be analyzed.

Primary

The Cathay key shoppers will be those who live at The Cathay Residence. They are just levels away from The Cathay. Their main shoppers will also be residence around Bugis, Orchard and Lavender. These residences live very near to Dhouby Ghaut area. Therefore, they have shorter travel period.

Beside locals who live around the area, The Cathay main shoppers can also be tourists who check in to the nearby hotel, Rendezvous Hotel.

Additionally, students and lecturers from Singapore Management University (SMU) and Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) are The Cathay key shoppers too. The Cathay is located nearby the two schools.

Secondary

Beside the main shoppers, The Cathay less key shoppers will be those living outside the area. They are shoppers who live at North and East area. North area will include Toa Payoh, Bishan, Yio Chu Kang, Yishun and Woodlands. Residences there have direct transportation to The Cathay by taking the train.

This goes the same as shopper that live around East area. This would include shoppers who live at Kallang, Paya Lebar, Bedok and Tampines. Journey to reach there will not take more than one hour, thus, shopper won’t mind to travel there.

Fringe

The Cathay fringe shoppers will be those who live far away from Dhouby Ghaut. These shoppers live at the South area of Singapore like Queenstown, Dover, Clementi, Jurong and Boon Lay. Travelling time for shoppers to The Cathay will take a long time. Due to this, it will discourage those shoppers to visit The Cathay.

Competition

The Cathay competitor will be Plaza Singapura. Plaza Singapura is an all-under-one-roof family-oriented shopping centre where there is John Little as anchor tenant. Plaza Singapura also provides a wider range of tenants mix for customers with different lifestyles.

Plaza Singapura provides more types of tenants mix as compared to The Cathay. There is intended-base tenants like Yahama Music School, Golden Village, Mothercare, and etc. There is also price-based tenant such as Mayor (premium tenant) and DAISO (discount tenant).

Besides the availability of wide range of tenants mix, Plaza Singapura has a direct linkage from Dhouby Ghaut MRT station to Plaza Singapura. Thus, with all the factors mentioned, many shoppers will tend to visit Plaza Singapura instead of The Cathay. Moreover, both the shopping centres have movie theatre, making shoppers to make comparison first before visiting.

Target Market

The Cathay’s target market is based on psychographic factor (lifestyle) such as shoppers that keep a healthy lifestyle (Fitness First) and enjoy watching movie (The Cathay Cineplex), gaming (E2Max), readings (The Commercial Press) and music (Gramophone). There are different tenants there sells products that cater to the different lifestyle. Based on demographics factor (income distribution), The Cathay will look into shopper with medium to high income level. Most of the tenants mix there sells products of affordable to exclusive prices.

In summary, The Cathay targets trendy shoppers that seek for entertainment too.



Tenants Mix

The Cathay provides shopper with impulse-based tenants by having retail cart located at level one. The carts sold items like fashion accessories and gifts. These items are great complimentary products. Locating at level one can also attract many shoppers’ attention.

There are also intended-based tenants like The Cathay Cineplex and Fitness First. Shoppers visit The Cathay for a main purpose which is watching movie at The Cathay Cineplex or to keep a healthy lifestyle at Fitness First.

Their deliver-based tenants will be the Three3Three outlet located at level three. Three3Three is sold a wide range of designer furniture, lightings & accessories collection from Italy, France, Belgium, Germany & Thailand. Since they sell furniture items, loading bay is required to deliver the item to the shop or to their customers.

The Cathay also provides image tenants such Starbucks, Adidas and PUMA. These retailers are popular among the locals and also have a good brand image. As a result, these retailers can help to attract more shoppers.

The Cathay food and beverages (F&B) based tenants are mostly located at Basement. Some of the examples are Ya Ku Kaya Toast, Indo Padang, New York Pizza, Mian Mian Ju Dao and Nihon Mura. There is also other F&B based tenants located at different levels. They have Ben & Jerry’s and The Cathay Restaurants at level two and Astons Specialities at level four.

Positioning

The brief explanations above are able to give a rough idea of The Cathay’s mall positioning. The tenants mix there sells products with good quality. PUMA, Adidas, and Three3Three are some of the examples that sell products of high quality. Other food and beverages retailers like Ya Kun Kaya Toast and Astons Specialities sells variety of foods with good quality and taste delicious.

In terms of pricing, The Cathay’s tenants mix sell products that are affordable to premium prices. Ya Kun Kaya Toast sell their food at affordable prices. However, retailers like Starbucks and Déjà Vu Vintage sell products at premium prices. Starbucks coffee are premium, thus, their pricing can be quite high. Déjà Vu Vintage is an elegant boutique that sells vintage fashion. Every product comes in one piece only, making it more exclusive. This exclusivity allows them to place high prices on the products sold.

With the different attributes mentioned above like highly visible and convenient location, it adds on to where the mall is being positioned.

In short, The Cathay positioned their shopping centre that provides good quality products at affordable to premium pricing.

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