OldTown White Coffee served its final plates at Kallang Wave Mall on Sunday, closing the Malaysian chain’s last Singapore outlet after the landlord refused to renew a lease that had anchored the kopitiam beside the National Stadium for more than 12 years.
The brand announced the shutdown on Facebook on 2 October, thanking regulars who treated the outlet as a post-swim meal stop and a late-night teh tarik run during football tournaments. In replies to media, JDE OldTown F&B Group said the lease at The Kallang precinct expired and the landlord chose not to extend despite talks. Madeline Tay, head of international business, told Bernama the company could not reach a mutual extension and would evaluate future opportunities as part of its regional strategy.
Rent and renewal fights
OldTown once operated additional branches in East Coast and Novena; Kallang survived longer than many mall food tenants as event crowds from the Singapore Sports Hub flowed past. Still, F&B operators across the island report landlords demanding higher base rents after pandemic rebates expired, even when haze and heat push diners toward air-conditioned courts rather than open-air hawker centres.
The closure joins a string of 2026 exits—Pizza Studio Tamaki plans to shut by month-end, Tomahawk King closed in September, and Swedish cafe Fika left Arab Street in August. Seoul Yummy, another tenant at Kallang Wave, will shutter on 22 October, suggesting the mall is repricing or retenanting rather than losing one stubborn coffee chain alone.
What loyalists lose
OldTown’s menu blended Malaysian breakfast plates with franchise-standard curry mee and kaya toast, a comfort option for Malaysian commuters working in Singapore who wanted familiar flavours without crossing the Causeway. Fans posted farewell photos of iced white coffee and nasi lemak sets this week, many noting they would need to visit Johor Bahru outlets for the same brand experience.
Mall management did not comment publicly on renewal terms. Retail brokers say F&B tenants often face stepped rent clauses tied to turnover, which hurt when event calendars dip between F1 week and football friendlies. OldTown’s statement avoided blaming sales, focusing on lease economics—a polite way of saying the numbers no longer worked at Kallang.
Regional footprint stays
Malaysia and other markets still host OldTown cafes; only the Singapore company entity is pausing operations. Tay’s comment that OldTown “does not rule out” returning mirrors language used by other paused brands that later re-enter via smaller formats or airport concessions.
For Kallang residents, Sunday is the last chance for a sit-down plate before the shutters descend. After that, the space joins the mall’s churn at a moment when haze keeps more diners indoors—exactly the conditions landlords cite when demanding premiums for climate-controlled seats.