Commenting on Metro’s closure after its leases expire in Paragon and Causeway Point, SMU Associate Professor of Marketing (Education) Seshan Ramaswami said that with the rise of e-commerce, the core advantage of department stores – "convenience" – has almost completely disappeared. Assoc Prof Ramaswami mentioned that the concept of department stores became popular in Singapore in the 1970s, and its heyday ended in the late 1990s. He noted that most department stores have barely managed to stay afloat, and began to decline in the 2010s.
