SINGAPORE (July 5): Three years after it closed its doors for a $560 million renovation and redesign, the new Funan finally welcomed its first visitors on June 28.
Standing in the middle of the atrium is Climb Central, a rock climbing wall. There is also an unmanned futsal facility and a farm on the rooftop terrace.
Among the new shops are Brompton Bikes’ first flagship store in Southeast Asia, Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao new offline-and-online store; and the world’s first Dyson demo store – Beauty Lab.
At the basement, there is a Kopitiam where patrons can place their orders through the Facebook messaging app and pay for them with cryptocurrencies.
CapitaLand’s management says Funan is for the millennial-minded, which includes older generations such as baby boomers who are comfortable with cycling, rock climbing and technology.
However, some analysts do not expect the crowds on the opening weekend to persist once the novelty wears off.
Furthermore, the mall’s concept is more “a revolution than an evolution”.
To find out if the buzz will return to Funan and what this means for owner CapitaLand Mall Trust, subscribers can login here to read New Funan gives CMT an immediate boost in AUM, subsequent lift to NAV, NPI and DPU which appears in this week’s The Edge Singapore (Issue 889, July 8).
