By Jake Chng

MOVE over, convenience stores. Now, 24-hour supermarkets here are beginning to sell alcohol after midnight too, mainly in residential areas.

Home-grown supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice has applied for extensions to its liquor licences, to sell alcohol after midnight at two of its 24-hour supermarkets.

The outlets at Bedok Central and Jurong Point Shopping Centre have been doing so after their licences were extended last year.

The two are among a total of 14 24-hour supermarkets that NTUC FairPrice has opened in the last two years.

An NTUC FairPrice spokesman said that the supermarket chain is reviewing the licences of the other outlets and will extend the sale of alcohol after midnight where necessary.

Supermarket chain Cold Storage has also been selling alcohol after midnight at one of its three 24-hour outlets, in Orchard Towers, since last year.

A Cold Storage spokesman said that the extension was due to demand around the outlet's vicinity.

The supermarket chain is monitoring the market before deciding whether or not to apply the extension for other outlets, she added.

To apply for a liquor license extension, retail outlets here must first obtain an ordinary liquor licence, to sell alcohol from 6am to midnight for two years, which costs $200.

The extension will cost them an additional $4 per hour beyond midnight, if the period of extension exceeds three months, or $20 per hour for a period less than two months.

Most 24-hour convenience stores here already have such extended liquor licences.

Convenience store chain 7-11 has extended liquor licences for 435 out of its 487 outlets here, while Cheers has them for more than half of its 120 outlets.

Despite this stiff competition, 24-hour supermarkets are jumping on the bandwagon possibly to attract late night customers who wish to buy alcohol at a cheaper price, said Associate Professor Sudhi Seshadri, 55, who lectures in marketing practice in the Singapore Management University.

Once these customers come into the stores, there is a good chance that they will buy something else along with the alcohol, because of the relatively cheap and wide range of products available in the supermarket, he added.

Agreeing, Associate Professor Lau Geok Theng, 54, who lectures in marketing at the National University of Singapore, said: "If customers, like teenagers, are aware of the price differences between convenience stores and 24-hour supermarkets, they will probably head to the latter to purchase alcohol, and other products after midnight.

But not many people know about the 24-hour supermarkets." Prof Seshadri said that the 24-hour supermarkets in the suburban areas were more likely to apply for extensions to liquor licences, than those in the city areas.

He said: "The people who purchase alcohol from supermarkets in the city areas are usually the restaurant owners, for stocking. And they do it before midnight, before their restaurants close."

So it would be pointless for supermarkets in the city to stay open beyond midnight, he said.

He added: "For residents, they can buy alcohol for home use whenever they want, even after midnight.

"Also, people who work late and are heading home tend to purchase alcohol from stores near their homes, and so it'll make more business sense for the supermarkets to extend their licenses at the residential area outlets."

For insurance agent Gabriel Goh, 31, who purchases alcohol from the NTUC FairPrice outlet at Jurong Point Shopping Centre after midnight on a weekly basis, drinking after midnight is a form of relaxation.

He said: "It's cool during the wee hours of the morning, and its very conducive for relaxation.

And why spend more money on alcohol from convenience stores, when you can get it for a dollar or two cheaper in 24-hour supermarkets?"

chngjm@sph.com.sg

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