Funan DigitaLife Mall

This article is about the demolished building. For the building that replaced it, see Funan, Singapore.

Funan DigitaLife Mall, formerly Funan The IT Mall and Funan Centre, was a shopping centre formerly located near the Civic District in Singapore. Completed in 1985, the mall specialised in electronics and IT-related goods. It was a more upmarket competitor of Sim Lim Square, the latter of which catered more to those seeking more budget purchases.^[1] It was closed and demolished in 2016.

Funan DigitaLife Mall

Funan DigitaLife Mall
Location	Downtown Core, Singapore
Coordinates	1°17′30.5″N 103°50′58.2″E
Address	109 North Bridge Road, Singapore 179097
Opening date	January 1985; 39 years ago (1985-01)
Closing date	30 June 2016; 8 years ago (2016-06-30)
Management	CapitaMalls Asia
Owner	CapitaLand Mall Trust Management
No. of stores and services	194
Total retail floor area	269,806 square feet (25,065.8 m2)
No. of floors	7
Public transit access	NS25  EW13  City Hall
Website	www.funan.com.sg

History

The mall opened in January 1985 as Funan Centre as a general shopping centre, which provided more options for shoppers to shop at other than Orchard Road.^[2] In the early 90s, the mall began to attract a critical mass of electronic and IT retailers over the years. Its main and long-time anchor tenant is Challenger Superstore, a major homegrown IT store established in 1984. In 1992, the mall was refurbished. It later adopted the name Funan The IT Mall in 1997 to reflect its current focus on IT related outlets. In 2005, the mall received minor upgrades, and was again renamed to Funan DigitaLife Mall.

There were a total of 178 outlets spread over six floors. Challenger Superstore occupied almost the entirety of the sixth floor, and was accompanied by another anchor tenants such as Harvey Norman in the other floors.

Decline and revamp

Due to the popularity of online shopping, business at the mall had been declining over the past few years, forcing tenants to close down.^[3] The mall was initially planned to be renovated in 2014. However, it was later slated for demolition. The last day of mall operation was 30 June 2016.^[4] All tenants have since relocated and the building was later demolished.

The new commercial building whose name was stripped down to Funan was being built on its former site. The new commercial building would have a 24-hour drive-thru,^[5] underground walkway to City Hall MRT station, The Adelphi Lifestyle Mall and Capitol Theatre.^[6] It also would have serviced apartments and offices as well. Originally slated to be reopened in 2020, the building was re-opened earlier than the scheduled reopening date on 28 June 2019.^[7][8]

Gallery

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  Funan Digitalife Mall
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  Funan Digitalife Mall by night.
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  Funan Digitalife Mall Interior
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Transportation

The nearest MRT Station to Funan DigtaLife Mall is City Hall MRT station (NS25/EW13).

References

1. "About Funan". Funan DigitaLife Mall. Archived from the original on 2014-07-02. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
2. "Meet the man who helped draw up Funan Centre". The New Paper. December 11, 2015. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
3. "Closure of Funan DigitaLife Mall a 'further setback for Singapore's tech haven image', say analysts". The Straits Times. December 11, 2015. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
4. "Funan DigitaLife Mall's last day of trading planned for June 30". Today. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
5. hermesauto (2018-05-25). "New Funan mall to have 24-hour drive-through for shoppers to pick up items". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2019-04-12. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
6. hermesauto (2017-11-13). "Underground walkway will link the new Funan mall to City Hall MRT". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2019-04-12. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
7. hermesauto (2018-09-28). "Revamped Funan mall to open ahead of schedule by June 2019, use facial recognition technology". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2019-04-12. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
8. "Funan reopens its doors to visitors after S$560 million revamp". CNA. Archived from the original on 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2019-07-04.

External links

• Official website