Small turnout as Jewel Changi Airport reopens after more than a month
Around 10 customers were gathered beyond your Rich & Good Cake Shop outlet at Jewel Changi Airport a couple of minutes before it opened for business on Monday (Jun 14).
It had been greater than a month since the shop was shuttered, when Jewel and the passenger terminals at Changi Airport were closed to the general public in May to regulate an evergrowing cluster of COVID-19 cases.
Jewel was in the beginning slated to reopen on May 27, however the closure was extended by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Changi Airport Group (CAG) as an "added precaution".
"(The crowd) is in fact slightly more than what we expected, we were expecting it to be totally empty because dine-in continues to be not allowed," said Ms Jerelyn Foo, the business's media and functions manager.
"But it's definitely less in comparison to what we had before the closure," she added. At burger chain Shake Shack, which typically sees long queues during peak hours, food delivery riders in addition to customers were spotted waiting in line for their food in the restaurant.
In contrast, luxury watch retailer Sincere Watch's outlet at Jewel was largely empty, when CNA visited the mall between 11.30am to 3pm. "I'm not surprised because it's just the first day of reopening and consumers just surely got to know about this so it will take time to allow them to gain confidence another to the mall and spend again," said Mr Kenneth Tan, the company's senior operations manager.
Meanwhile, a small couple of moviegoers trickled in and out of Shaw Theatres Jewel.
"It's an average Monday morning, so obviously it's quite quiet," said Mr Mark Shaw, director of Shaw Organization.
"We're just really pleased to be open and we expect, hopefully, with some decent marketing from Jewel and we, as well as a number of the bigger Hollywood blockbusters coming online within the next couple of weeks, that business will grab," he added.
