Seafolly Singapore opens fourth store

Swimwear brand Seafolly Singapore has opened its fourth store, in Raffles City.

Surprisingly, Singapore is the top-performing market for the 41-year-old Australian brand, in terms of sales per square metre.

Seafolly has 2500 stores and sales points in more than 40 countries, entering the Singapore market 20 years ago. It has three other stores – in Great World City, Takashimaya Department Store and Wisma Atria.

Customers are spending an average of $700 a transaction, mainly buying the brand’s swimwear, sunscreen, cover-ups and accessories such as hats and sunglasses.

“Each store is doing very well,” says Seafolly CEO Anthony Halas, in Singapore for the opening of the Raffles City outlet. “Our Singapore market has been enjoying double-digit growth year-on-year and we are confident this will continue into next year.”

Halas, who joined the family business in 1996 as international sales manager, attributes Seafolly’s popularity to the fit and quality of its women’s swimwear, and the fact that Singapore is warm all year round.

Half of the brand’s 24-strong design team is focussed on the fit of the swimwear. The brand also has swimwear and clothing for children, but none for men. Its bestsellers in Singapore are one-piece swimsuits with a boy-leg cut, sunscreen and booster bras.

Halas says the brand plans to open four more stores in Singapore’s heartland within the next five years. It also plans to add eight more stores next year in the US, where there are seven stores, and also has a focus on China, where it is yet to establish a presence.

Asian private equity company L Catterton Asia (formerly L Capital Asia), part of the French multinational luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, bought 70 per cent of Seafolly’s worldwide business in 2014 for more than AU$70 million (US$52 million).

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