4 Brands That Left Singapore and Came Back

A&W: 16 years away, and the root beer float came back with it

A&W arrived in Singapore in 1966 and pulled out in 2003 with five outlets left, squeezed out by the burger chains around it. The return in 2019 started at Jewel Changi Airport and the queues that week were genuinely absurd for a fast food chain nobody under 25 had eaten at.

The float is the whole point. Not the burgers, not the waffles. A root beer float in a chilled mug is a specific memory for a specific generation, and that is what people queued for. A&W has since closed some outlets again, including Ang Mo Kio Hub in April 2025, so the comeback is not a straight line. If you want the current menu curiosity, we covered the Godzilla Milo waffle.

CHAGEE and Sa Sa: gone quietly, back louder

Ba Wang Cha Ji closed its last Singapore store at Funan on 13 January 2024. It was quiet, it was sudden, and it happened because the brand was moving off franchise operations to company-owned ones. It came back in August 2024 under the CHAGEE name, opening at Orchardgateway on 9 August, then Plaza Singapura and Raffles Place. Same drink, new spelling, considerably more outlets. Its current menu run is covered in our CHAGEE matcha series writeup.

Sa Sa is the one people forget. The Hong Kong cosmetics chain shut all 22 Singapore stores in 2020 after six straight years of losses, taking about 170 jobs with it. It returned in December 2023 with a single 882 square foot store at Jurong Point, then added Tampines 1 and Westgate. Mini nail polishes and goodie bag fillers, for anyone whose childhood involved either.

Lady M: three months, not three years

Lady M is the fastest turnaround on the list. It entered Singapore in 2013 through a licensing deal with Caerus Holding. That licence ended on 11 December 2025, and by January 2026 the Orchard Central, ION Orchard, Westgate and South Beach outlets were all listed permanently closed.

By April 2026 it was open again at Jewel Changi Airport, a 44-seat boutique in the same spot it used to occupy, under a new South-east Asia setup, with IOI Central Boulevard Towers and Marina Bay Link Mall following.

The pattern across all four is the same and it is not sentimental: none of these brands came back because Singaporeans missed them. They came back because the operating structure changed. The licence ended, the franchise moved in-house, the rent maths worked again.

FAQs

When did A&W return to Singapore?

In 2019, at Jewel Changi Airport, sixteen years after leaving in 2003. It first entered Singapore in 1966.

Why did Ba Wang Cha Ji become CHAGEE?

The brand withdrew its Singapore franchise operations and closed its last store in January 2024, then returned in August 2024 running company-owned outlets under the CHAGEE name.

When did Sa Sa come back to Singapore?

December 2023, with one store at Jurong Point, after closing all 22 of its outlets in 2020. Tampines 1 and Westgate followed.

Why did Lady M close and reopen so quickly?

Its Singapore licensing deal with Caerus Holding ended on 11 December 2025 and all outlets closed in January 2026. It reopened at Jewel Changi Airport in April 2026 under a new South-east Asia arrangement.