Mustafa Centre

Mustafa Centre is a shopping mall in Singapore, situated on Syed Alwi Road in the cultural district of Little India, within the planning area of Kallang. Within a walking distance from Farrer Park station and Jalan Besar station on the North East Line and Downtown Line, Mustafa Centre is a retail hub attracting many shoppers with its wide variety of products and services.
Haji Mohamed Mustafa was born in India to a farming family. He arrived in Muar, Malaysia in 1950, and began peddling dumplings, from village to village. His son, Mustaq Ahmad, was born in Uttar Pradesh in 1951 and joined his father Singapore when he was five. As he grew, Ahmad started helping out at his father's food stall, selling tea and bread. Soon he began to sell handkerchiefs at fixed prices, next to his father's food stall, using pocket money given to him by his father to buy the goods he needed.
Inspired by his son's business acumen, and realised the potential in the clothing retail business, Haji Mohammed gave up selling tea and bread at his stall, and started selling children's clothes and garments for adults in the 1960s.
In 1971, Ahmad expanded the family business, setting up a small 500 sq ft shop in Campbell Lane that sold ready-made garments, and named it Mohamed Mustafa, after his father.
On 11 July 1973, Haji Mohamed Mustafa and his cousin, Samsuddin (25 July 1925 - April 2011), commenced a wholesale business through a partnership known as Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin Co (“MMSC”). From 23 July 1973, MMSC's branch would operate from 19 Campbell Lane. It mainly sold ready-made clothing and later expanded to sale of electronic items. In 1985, they moved their business to the ground floor of Serangoon Plaza.
In 1990, Mr Mustafa; his eldest son, Mustaq Ahmad; and Mr Samsuddin, founded Mohamed Mustafa and Samsudin Co Pte Ltd (MMSCPL),. As their business expanded, they bought a shophouse on Syed Alwi Road. Subsequently, they bought the neighboring units and decided to build a new shopping mall to house their business. Eventually, in 1995, the store expanded to become Mustafa Centre – a 75,000- square feet department store with a 130-room hotel. MMSCPL went public in 2011, with its first bonds sold in February 2014.
In 2008, Mustaq Ahmad made it to the Forbes list of the 40 richest Singaporeans (at number 38).
On 2 April 2020, Mustafa Centre was identified as one of the many COVID-19 clusters, with over 100 cases among the foreign workers' dormitories being attributed to it. It closed and underwent a disinfection thereafter, and was reopened partially on 6 May 2020, after Singapore authorities eased its preventive measures to contain the spread of the virus. Since the reopening, operating hours were adjusted to 9.30am - 11.30pm daily due to high electricity costs and rental costs, previously it was operated 24 hours. On 27 August 2020, Mustaq announced cost-cutting measures which affected the salaries of some workers, and non-renewal of work permits of its foreign workers. The company had also worked with various unions and government entities to help redeploy its excess workers resulting from the pandemic to other companies, avoiding the necessity of a retrenchment exercise.
Mustafa Centre houses the Mustafa department store, which caters mainly to the budget market. The department store consists of two shopping centres: one retailing jewelry and household appliances and functioning as a supermarket, and the other selling a variety of other products such as books, DVDs, watches, electronic goods, footwear, toys, and clothing.
Mustafa Centre sells more than 300,000 items and provides many services such as foreign exchange and travel arrangements. In late 2011, Mustafa Centre opened a new rooftop restaurant named Kebabs ‘n Curries in its new wing. The restaurant serves a range of Asian dishes from 5 pm till 2 am daily.
The business expanded internationally, to Chennai, India, in 2000 with an 8,000 sq ft jewellery shop called Mustafa Goldmart, housed in a 16,000 sq ft building.
Mustafa Centre has also expanded its reach into Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2012, opening a chain store called Mustafa Mart at the Bashundhara City mall.
Mustafa Centre plans to open its first department store in Malaysia in a shopping mall in Johor Bahru. Singapore-listed Capital World said that it will sell most of the retail space at its 11-storey Capital City Mall in Tampoi to Mustafa's for MYR 368 million. Mustafa's will buy 591 unsold retail units, representing a combined net lettable area of 641,216 sq ft. It will also acquire 374 accessory parcels at the mall, including al fresco and multi-purpose areas spanning a total of 1.28 million sq ft, and all 2,181 carpark spaces. Initially expected to open in the second half of 2023, it has been forced to push back plans due to delays in negotiating for more retail space and slow progress in construction work.
In 2024, Mustafa Jewellery Malaysia has expanded its presence with the opening of a new showroom at Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall. Offering a wide selection of gold, diamond, and gemstone jewellery, the showroom caters to both locals and tourists seeking high-quality craftsmanship and competitive prices. This marks a significant milestone in Mustafa’s regional growth, strengthening its footprint in Malaysia’s retail landscape.
In 2003, the company paid SGD 15 million for a building in Jakarta, Indonesia, that stands on a 33,000 sq m plot of land. Rental dues paid by tenants in that building acts as another source of revenue for the company.
In early 2023, Rumors about the presence of Mustafa Center in Indonesia have been confirmed by the Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore, Suryo Pratomo via his Instagram account. It will be located in the ex-Golden Truly building in Kemayoran, Jakarta, and plans to open in 2024.