LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Jacob the Jeweler, baubles, Lorraine Schwartz, oughta do It’s big balling baby, when I’m courting you I’m talking spy bags, and fly pads, and Rooms at the Bloomberg, and rumors you on the verge

The lesson with which the recently shuttered Robinsons leaves us is simple: be clear and be true. For a long time now, the public has been saying that the department store was ‘neither here nor there’ — meaning that its ambivalent identity has left many wondering if the establishment was for them or not.

I attended one of many events that the department store hosted for the opening of its branch at The Heeren, supposedly the premium version of the store. I remember feeling quite unsure if it was a move in the right direction. The attempts at ‘grandness’ were visible throughout the place; the spaces dedicated to different merchandise were big yet, sadly, mostly gaudy, especially at the upper floors where there were a specialty bookshop, an events’ space, and an art gallery — additions that shoppers would not necessarily expect or look for at a Robinsons. The sense of things being ‘curated’, instead of just being thoughtfully selected and arranged on a shelf, was palpable without anyone actually saying it. It was that kind of place.

But Robinsons, if living here for two decades has taught me correctly, is a place for everyday products, particularly in the low to mid-range categories. Their Raffles City branch was a happy place for many people who went there for guilt-free yet fun shopping.

One could find nearly everything at Robinsons from Chanel lipstick to shoe trees and coffee press. While it wasn’t exactly a bargainbasement, it was accessible and, more importantly, consumerfriendly – qualities that do not translate smoothly in the high-end market lexicon. The ‘aunties’ there welcomed you with a polite greeting, not the studied iced-latte-cold smile that clerks in exclusive boutiques would sometimes throw in your direction.

That upmarket move was, somehow, described as an ‘upgrade’. Now stop there. Let that word marinate for a while. Upgrade.

To many people, an upgrade is a long-planned, quickly executed trip to a more expensive place. I heard the word ‘upgraders’ being applied for the first time to a group of people who have moved into a private property from long-term lease housing. An architect friend pointed out that it wasn’t necessarily a better place, just a pricier one. With a change of address, some upgraders hope for a full disassociation from where they came from. While social mobility is not a bad idea, the loss of one’s authentic self is.

The Robinson lesson is important as it applies not only to establishments but also to individuals. Whatever one packs in the luggage, whatever one wants to be headed, tell half the story of what one is. It only turns interesting when it becomes clear what one’s true nature and origin is.