Crowd hits Sogo

Bargain-hunters thronged to Japanese department store Sogo in Singapore yesterday, a day before the troubled chain operator will close two outlets in the wealthy city-state.

Sogo filed for bankruptcy in July when the Japanese Government baulked at a plan to forgive 484 billion yen (about HK$32.61 billion) in loans because of a public outcry. It would have been Japan's largest corporate bailout.