TO PUBLIC relations manager He Peiwen, it's a retail haven of canny buys and upmarket fashion brand names that is as comfy and familiar as, well, an oft-worn pair of shoes.
It is Orchard Road, Singapore's most famous shopping street.
Ms He, 26, visits it at least once a week. However, familiarity sometimes breeds contempt, and she has tired of its decades-old grey blocks and impenetrable mall frontages.
'It's all right, it's not particularly sophisticated,' she says.
So to her, it is good news that malls are kicking off multi-million-dollar plans to wow shoppers by changing the face of Orchard Road to make it inviting, contemporary and exciting.
What makes the facelift stand out is a new 'show-and-sell' tactic, where malls and stores use prime shop frontages to turn heads and win the battle for the consumer dollar.
Retailers say first impressions count more than ever today, where bigger and better shops, like flagships and concept stores, fight for shoppers' attention.
So instead of consumers merely venturing into a store, retailers now want to reach out to them - in the form of big, welcoming windows that make the road and racks of clothes interconnect.
The malls plan to do this by doing away with dated, enclosed veneers and introducing glass facades, double-storey 'duplex' stores and a 'jewel-box' glass-fronted shop suspended in mid-air outside the building - to the tune of at least $115 million.
For example, Paragon Shopping Centre is spending $45 million on a facelift due to be completed in October in which the mall's glass-and-granite cladding will make way for pop-out, glass-
boxed shop fronts facing Orchard Road and featuring luxury labels. These will include Italian marque Gucci, which will turn shoppers' heads with a glitzy, five-storey facade.
Of course, adding dazzle to this razzle will be the eagerly awaited $1.35 billion worth of new malls soon to open along the Orchard stretch, such as Ion Orchard, next to Wisma Atria, and Orchard Central, opposite The Centrepoint.
Ion Orchard, at the prime position of Orchard Turn, will have six international luxury brand names - Prada, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Cartier, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton - form an 11m-tall, 117m-long facade when the building opens early next year.
Down the road, Ngee Ann City is launching its own charm offensive, updating its landmark red marble facade.
It will double the retail space of two of its Orchard Road-facing tenants, French luxury labels Louis Vuitton and Chanel, by mid-2009 and late 2010, respectively. Each brand will also have its own facade design.
Retailers are excited too. Ms Amy Lim, general manager of Macquarie Pacific Star Property Management, which owns Wisma Atria and Ngee Ann City, said the facelifts will 'enhance the attractiveness' of the shopping strip.
The Far East Organization-owned Orchard Central, due to be completed later this year, will feature a suspended 'jewel box' shop on the outside of the building. It will also boast a 160m-long frontage - the longest among the Orchard Road malls, says Far East, to give tenants maximum visibility.
By 2011, Singapore's main shopping street will be lined with at least 14 new two-storey flagship stores boasting international luxury brand names. And there is space on the 2km strip to accommodate more.
The Singapore Tourism Board - which recently unveiled a $40 million rejuvenation plan for Orchard Road, including landscaping - estimates 1 million sq ft of retail space will open up on the street. This is thanks largely to the opening of Ion Orchard, Orchard Central and another big newbie, Somerset Central, above Somerset MRT station, by next year.
With space at a premium, it is no wonder the likes of Orchard Central want a full frontal scene for impact.
Mrs Vivienne Tan, president of Far East Retail Consultancy, the consultancy arm of property giant Far East Organization, notes: 'Many retailers and brands are jostling for position in this prime stretch of retail.
'The extra volume and height in the format of duplex stores, ideally on the ground level, provide retailers and brands the opportunity to distinguish themselves and establish a strong presence.'
She adds: 'Duplex flagship stores will also bring prominence to Orchard Road, making this popular strip comparable to the main shopping streets in cities across the world, like Nathan Road in Hong Kong and New York's Fifth Avenue.'
Indeed, Mr Lim Shien Yau, marketing communications manager of Orchard Turn Developments, which owns Ion Orchard, points out: 'The six superbrands fronting our facade are all brands that have designed their own building facades in other major fashion cities.'
Already, Orchard Road attracts more than seven million visitors each year. The move to put up a bold front comes as Singapore gears up to welcome 17 million tourist arrivals by 2015.
Says Robinsons' chief executive officer John Cheston: 'What this city's got that others in the region would give an arm for is one main shopping stretch ...But if Orchard Road remains in its present guise, it probably won't do justice to upcoming exciting events, like the opening of the integrated resorts and the Formula One race.'
Singapore Retailers Association president and executive vice-chairman of The Hour Glass, Ms Jannie Tay, says Orchard Road 'used to be a row of disjointed shopping centres', and the new malls give it 'a more modern look, compared with 10 years ago'.
'Everyone wants to be part of a nice, new image. And international brands can afford to do so here because Asia has new wealth,' she notes.
Asia is now the world's biggest market for luxury goods, accounting for 37 per cent of the estimated US$80 billion (S$115 billion) sector.
Shoppers like Ms He contribute to that, and Orchard Road's fresh look will set the scene for even more retail therapy. As another shopper, 30-year-old bank executive Jasmine Foo, says: 'A bigger and newer store will...catch my attention before a smaller and older one does. And if it's facing Orchard Road, I'll be able to see it from further away.'
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