The narrowest road in Singapore is absolutely thriving with indie businesses and we’re loving it.
Joining the likes of newly-expanded Soon Lee, ‘flower cafe’ Wonderland for Detailed Planners and graffiti-endowed CAD Cafe is Mondays Off, a furniture store started by local graphic designer Leyna Poh and her partner.
The two-storey retail space will be largely filled with Japanese and Scandinavian-inspired items sourced from around the world, as well as sustainable products by local designers. Displayed alongside Mondays Off Communiy Service Announcement — basically life lessons and reminders — posters and other soft furnishings are Red Carousel partyware, books by Math Paper Press, a.Muse teas, GSH conserves jams, handmade leather bags by The Arthemis, B-diff tote bags, as well as decoratives by Malaysian illustrator Minifanfan. Mondays Off will also stock loads of home accessories including coffee cups and prints, dedicated to the global kitty obsession, and process orders for tulip bouquets. Poh, who until recently was working with the Singapore Press Holdings, is also planning to hold weekend markets in the store.
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Products will be priced at $3 — 1,299 (life-size The Nutcracker doll). The Arthemis bags will go for $120 upwards, while Mondays Off posters start at $39.
Mondays Off started off as an online shop, but when Poh decided she wanted this year to be that of experimentation and “getting stressed out”, the business took on a brick-and-mortar concept.
“On my last trip to Seoul, I was deeply impressed by the level of visual merchandising. The stores’ eye for and dedication to beautifying spaces with so much authenticity and innovation inspired me,” she revealed to Coconuts Singapore.
When asked how Mondays Off would differentiate from other like-minded stores in the endlessly burgeoning neighbourhood, Poh said she strives to complement competing brands and stores by providing products not already offered in the area. The second floor of the space at 76 Haji Lane will also house the Mondays Off creative studio, which Poh hopes to use as a launching pad for innovative interior, party and wedding design.
And Haji Lane is not the only part of the Kampong Glam area that’s filling up. The directly parallel Bali Lane — home to hip bar and event space Blu Jaz and multi-label boutique Threadbare & Squirrel — now boasts the Maketh Project studio, as well as homey bakery and cafe Stateland.
Customers get $10 off for every $150 spent in the opening month.
