As international retailers cut back on space, Singapore designers are taking up their empty stores…

With Singapore’s CBD retail decline continuing, at least five Singaporean designers have opened stores.
“Now is the perfect time for us, as it’s very much part of our plan to go international,” says jewellery designer Choo Yilin, who will open a boutique in Orchard Rd’s Mandarin Gallery next month.

Founded in 2008, the brand features jade and contemporary wedding jewellery, and can also be found in a standalone Joo Chiat shophouse boutique. The brand has been doubling revenues every year since 2013, and is set to do so again this year despite the economic downturn.

“A standalone boutique is incredibly important and pivotal to nurturing personal relationships with clients,” says Choo, whose eCommerce site accounted for 10 per cent of total sales when launched last year.

“We realised how face-to-face interactions are crucial in communicating the brand touchpoints in a way that eCommerce can’t.”

Meanwhile, artisanal jeweller Carolyn Kan has made her 16-month-long pop-up venture permanent. Formerly at the junction of Orchard and Cairnhill Rds, the multi-label boutique Keepers, which includes her Carrie K line, is now at the National Design Centre. She shares the space with her own jewellery studio and a yacht design consultancy.