Mustafa Mart

Mustafa has seen impressive growth since its inception. The first shop was established in 1971 in Campbell Lane in Little India, selling readymade garments.

In 1973, a 900 Sq.Ft Shop space was rented along Serangoon Road. Electronic Items were added on to it's range of products.

A second shop also 900 Sq.Ft was rented beside the first shop to accommodate growing customer traffic. Along with it, more products were sourced from overseas to give customers a wider selection of goods. The choice of new products based on what customers wanted.

In 1985, the government acquired the shops for conservation, Mr.Mustaq Ahmad looked at several areas and decided to set up shop at Serangoon Plaza. A bold decision since Serangoon Plaza was located away from the main shopping belt in Little India, however, Mr.Ahmad went ahead to rent a space of 40,000 Sq.Ft on the ground floor of the building .

The store became an immediate success, and more space was rented within the building to accommodate the growing clientele. With this in mind, and also considering the rental projection, Mr.Ahmad thought it would be best to own his own premises to maintain his business strategy.

Mr.Ahmad started to look around, and found some old shophouses along Syed Alwi Road which were reasonably priced and not far from his store, just around the corner from Serangoon Plaza. He bought them one by one till finally, he bought the whole row. Putting up a large Shopping Centre in a side road out of the traditional shopping area was a very brave decision. After 2 years of careful planning, he decided to go ahead to put up his own building.

In April 1995, Mustafa Centre became a reality and immediately became a Shopping Paradise to many people. Weekends, the store packs in over 15,000 customers of all nationalities.

With the exposure in the T.V programs "Money Mind" and "Money Week" and reports in the local newspapers gave Mustafa greater exposure. With this support, the crowds continued to come to the store. A popular meeting point for families on weekends and holidays.

Today, customers can get almost anything from over 300,000 items displayed on four levels covering an area of 400,000 Sq.ft within the six story building along Syed Alwi Road. The business concept of offering other services such as Foreign Exchange, Travel, and a Hotel, has helped in contributing to the growth of the business.

This customer related services under one roof has become synonymous with tourists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, and Asia. And lately there has been an increase in customers from the Middle-East, North Asia and also Europe. It is also popular with expatriates, made known to them through the Mustafa Mail Order Catalog, and recently Mustafa was the first major department store to get on the INTERNET.

Today, not only Mustafa Centre is a reality, the old store at Serangoon Plaza has expanded into 75,000 Sq.ft. A total shopping space of 150,000 Sq.ft is still not enough to accommodate the growing customer traffic.