Raffles Place
Robinsons acquired a 76% stake on John Little and the whole company in the end of 1955. The Raffles Place store was fully air-conditioned by then and was the first in the region. Robinsons got the franchise for Marks and Spencer for Singapore in 1958. On 21 November 1972, the Raffles Place outlet caught fire. As a result, the building was reduced to rubble. Nine people died in the blaze. The store moved to Specialists' Shopping Centre on Orchard Road.