Tangs

Department store in Singapore

For the plural "tangs", see Tang (disambiguation).

1°17′05″N 103°48′35″E﻿ / ﻿1.2846°N 103.8096°E﻿ / 1.2846; 103.8096

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TANGS

Company type| Public
Industry| Retail
Genre| Department store
Founded| 1932; 93 years ago (1932)
Founder| CK Tang
Headquarters|

Singapore

Area served

| South East Asia

Key people

| Tang Wee Sung / Foo Tiang Sooi
Revenue| S$196,790,000 (2007)

Number of employees

| 686
Subsidiaries| Gamut Marketing, Island Shop International
Website| www.tangs.com

TANGS is a department store located on Orchard Road in Singapore, owned by C.K. Tang Limited. The store is regarded as a principal shopping destination in the city, comparable to Bloomingdale's in New York City and Selfridges in London.[1][2] The company was founded by Tang Choon Keng in 1932.[3]

Tangs historically used to not operate on Sundays as the Tang family were "devout" Christians.[4]

## History

[edit]

The store c. 1970

C.K. Tang, the founder, migrated from China and began his business in a provisional store in 1932. CK Tang's first stores were on River Valley Road, but in the 1950s, he purchased land on Orchard Road after noticing that expatriates from the Holland Village area would travel down this road to go downtown.[citation needed]

When CK Tang bought the land, it was situated opposite a Chinese cemetery, which, according to cultural conventions, was perceived to bring bad luck.

TANGS is credited with sparking the transformation of the area into Singapore's most famous shopping district.[2] In 1982, C.K. Tang purchased the adjacent Tang Plaza, which currently houses the Singapore Marriott Hotel.[5]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, one of CK Tang's sons, Tang Wee Sung, assumed control of the store. He became chairman of the company in 2000 following his father's death. His appointment led to changes in operating policies, such as allowing the store to remain open on Sundays and introducing marketing strategies to enhance consumer choice.

In 2012, TANGS announced a S$45 million, three-year transformation plan for its flagship store on Orchard Road.[6]

## Architecture

[edit]

View at night (2007)

The building form was influenced by traditional Chinese culture and architecture, modeled after the Palaces in the Forbidden City. The color scheme of C.K. Tang building mimics a traditional imperial palace, with the green roof tiles symbolizing the notion of growth and prosperity, the yellow facade symbolizing the color of royalty, and red columns representing happiness.

The design follows the Chinese belief of ‘feng-shui’, a traditional Chinese philosophical system, which is prominent in the octagonal decorations consistent all over the building. The eight-sided shape is auspicious as the number ‘8’, pronounced as ‘fa´ in Chinese dialect implies prosperity. Apart from the visually prominent octagonal roof form of the tower, there are several other instances of octagonal designs all over the building. These include the floor tiling, column base and ceiling decorations, and railings.

Other features like the distinctive ‘artichoke leaf’ or ‘xie-shan’ roof, designed to repel rain as well as allow wind circulation within the structure. The ridges of the roofs are aligned with figures of miniature mythical creatures which is a symbolism of formidableness in Chinese culture, along with the stone statues of lions up-front.

Prior to its 2012 transformation, TANGS occupied 15,000 m2 (160,000 sq ft) and boasted five selling floors, designed by New York-based Hambrecht Terrell International, noted for its work with Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's.[7]

## Expansion

[edit]

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### VivoCity

[edit]

TANGS VivoCity in June 2023.

In 2006, TANGS opened as an anchor tenant at shopping mall VivoCity.[8] TANGS VivoCity occupies approximately 85,000 sq ft (7,900 m2) of retail space. The space was revamped in October 2022 and reopened in June 2023.

### Malaysia

[edit]

Tangs' first attempt at expanding to Malaysia was in 1993, when it signed a contract with Taiping Consodilated to open a 160,000 square feet (15,000 m2) outlet at Starhill Mall, Kuala Lumpur by mid-1995. The concept would be similar to its Singaporean counterpart at Orchard Road.[9] The first outside of Singapore, the outlet opened on 27 October 1995.[10]

Tangs marked its return to the Malaysian market with a store within Pavilion KL in 2007. The store has since relocated to 1 Utama,[11] this was followed by new locations in Subang Jaya (Empire Subang), and subsequent openings at Genting Highlands (First World Plaza) and Malacca.[12] Tangs once again withdraws from Malaysia in 2020, with the branches at Subang Jaya and Genting Highlands renamed as Galeries Voir,[13] the Malacca branch renamed as Best Value Outlet, while the 1 Utama branch closed down.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "SINGAPORE Guide | Department Stores". 4 January 2011. Archived from the original on 4 January 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
2. ^ a b "Singapore retail tycoon dies". BBC News. 4 September 2004.
3. ^ "Tangs". Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
4. ^ "KL shopping mall hopes anchor tenant Tangs will open on Sundays". The Straits Times. 26 August 1992.
5. ^ "Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel". Marriott International.
6. ^ "Tangs in $45m remodelling into Orchard Rd's Harrods - BTInvest". 29 October 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
7. ^ Merin, Jennifer (9 July 1989). "This Singapore Story Went From Rags to Riches". Los Angeles Times.
8. ^ "One Mall to Rule Them All". bk.asia-city.com. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
9. ^ "Tangs sees first-year sales of $54m from its new Malaysian store". The Straits Times. 16 April 1993.
10. ^ "C.K. Tang seeking Malaysian partners for new KL outlet". The Straits Times. 28 October 1995.
11. ^ "Tangs picks 1Utama for third store - Central - New Straits Times". 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on 14 November 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
12. ^ "Tangs to open fourth store in Malacca". The Star. 10 April 2014.
13. ^ "Stores Categories - Empire Shopping Gallery". www.esg.com.my. Retrieved 22 February 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Shopping malls in Singapore

Current malls|

* Alexandra Retail Centre
* AMK Hub
* Bedok Mall
* Bugis Junction
* Bugis+
* Capitol Singapore
* Causeway Point
* Century Square
* Change Alley
* Changi City Point
* Chinatown Point
* City Square Mall
* CityLink Mall
* Clementi Mall
* Compass One
* Djitsun Mall
* Eastpoint Mall
* Esplanade Mall
* Far East Plaza
* Forum The Shopping Mall
* Fu Lu Shou Complex
* Funan
* Great World
* HarbourFront Centre
* Hillion Mall
* Holland Road Shopping Centre
* Hougang 1
* Hougang Mall
* i12 Katong
* IMM
* ION Orchard
* Jem
* Jewel Changi Airport
* Junction 10
* Junction 8
* Jurong Point
* Kallang Wave Mall
* Katong Shopping Centre
* Leisure Park Kallang
* Lot One
* Lucky Plaza
* Mandarin Gallery
* Marina Bay Link Mall
* The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
* Marina Square
* Millenia Walk
* Mustafa Centre
* Nex
* Ngee Ann City
* Northpoint City
* Novena Square
* Orchard Central
* Orchard Gateway
* Orchard Towers
* Palais Renaissance
* The Paragon
* Parkway Parade
* Peninsula Plaza
* People's Park Centre
* People's Park Complex
* Plaza Singapura
* Queensway Shopping Centre
* Raffles City
* Rochester Mall
* Seletar Mall
* Sembawang Shopping Centre
* Shaw House and Centre
* Sim Lim Square
* South Beach
* Square 2
* Sun Plaza
* Suntec City Mall
* Tampines 1
* Tampines Mall
* Tang Plaza
* Tekka Centre
* The Centrepoint
* The Golden Mile
* The Majestic
* The Rail Mall
* The Star Vista
* Thomson Plaza
* Tiong Bahru Plaza
* United Square
* VivoCity
* Waterway Point
* West Coast Plaza
* West Mall
* Westgate
* Wheelock Place
* White Sands
* Wisma Atria
* Yew Tee Point

| HDB malls|

* Canberra Plaza
* Dawson Place
* Heartland Mall
* HDB Hub
* Oasis Terraces
* Our Tampines Hub
* Pioneer Mall
* Punggol Plaza

|

Multiplexes|

* Cathay Cineleisure Orchard
* GV Yishun
* The Cathay

Defunct malls|

* Amber Mansions
* Bedok Point
* Capitol Centre
* Ellenborough Market
* Funan DigitaLife Mall
* JCube
* Jurong Entertainment Centre
* Liang Court
* Scotts Shopping Centre
* Shaw Tower
* Specialists' Shopping Centre
* The Verge
* Tanglin Shopping Centre

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