New experiential retail venues

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Design Orchard

Designed by award-winning local architecture firm WOHA Architects, Design Orchard is an incubator with a retail showcase that is dedicated to nurturing our local design talents. Located in the heart of Orchard Road, Design Orchard lets its visitors explore a wide variety of local brands across categories like fashion, accessories, confectionery, lifestyle products and souvenirs. These will be displayed in the retail showcase on Level 1 of the development when it officially opens on 30 January 2019. Visitors can take their pick from the array of local products on display, learn new skills at hands-on workshops and discover the back stories of innovative Singaporean entrepreneurs. Further enhancing the retail experience, Smart Mirrors and an Interactive Display Table present useful information on various products when visitors interact with these high-tech amenities.

Other than the retail showcase, Design Orchard also houses an incubation space dedicated to start-ups; and offers business advisory and mentorship programmes to young entrepreneurs on the upper levels. The rooftop of the building is a public amphitheatre with lush greenery, where visitors can catch an event or take a break while enjoying a panoramic view of Orchard Road.

Address: 250 Orchard Road

Website: designorchard.sg

habitat by honestbee

See, hear, smell, touch and taste the fresh produce of habitat by honestbee, a different sort of supermarket that will lend visitors a glimpse into the future of retail. In this futuristic grocery store and eatery, long queues are a thing of the past, as checking out is cashless, quick and fully automated. This 60,000-square-foot retail space showcases over 20,000 products directly sourced from producers around the world, and its 15 F&B concepts treat guests to a wide range of cuisines. Besides checking off grocery lists, your clients can also hold private and corporate functions in its event space. habitat by honestbee is committed to continually rolling out new technology that will let customers learn more about different grocery brands while dining in comfort.

Address: 34 Boon Leat Terrace

Opening hours: Mon-Thu & Sun 10am-10pm; Fri, Sat & eve of Public Holidays 10am-midnight

Website: habitat.honestbee.sg

For enquiries: Email concierge.sg@honestbee.com

Violet Oon in ION Orchard

Violet Oon's fourth restaurant has both a dining area and a retail store. Here, your clients can not only enjoy a hearty traditional feast, but also take away classic delights like pineapple tarts; cookies with Asian flavours like peanut, sugee (traditional Eurasian cake) and cashew nut; and tea cakes like the establishment’s signature gula melaka (palm sugar) cake. Introduce your guests to chef Violet’s delicious kaya (traditional jam made from coconut and eggs), a portable keepsake that they can use to make Singaporean kaya toast even after they return home. These items make ideal souvenirs and gifts, as the packages of these confections are stylish and attractive. One can also read about the historical and cultural context of each item, which are detailed on the back of each packaging.

Guests who wish to dine in can enjoy British-influenced Hainanese dishes like oxtail stew, Hainanese pork chop and chicken pie in the dining area. Diners are also recommended to try chef Violet’s famed Peranakan* classics like dry laksa (spicy coconut milk-based noodle) and kueh pie tee (crispy canape cups).

* The term is an Indonesian/Malay word that means “local born”, which generally refers to people of Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage.

Opening hours: Daily noon-10pm

Address: ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn #03-22/28/29

Website: violetoon.com

For enquiries: Call +65 9834 9935 or email events@violetoon.com (Trade contact: Jessheel)

NomadX

NomadX is a unique multi-label boutique where your clients can experience the future of both physical and digital retail. Visitors to this two-storey space first enter their shopping preferences, so that they can be assigned to tribes and have products intelligently suggested to them by artificial intelligence (AI). They can then experience different brands and their products through touchscreens and immersive digital display technology. This post-modernist store takes its name from how new brands continually set up shop within its 11,000-square-foot premises, like nomads. NomadX’s current brands include Singapore-founded marketplace teapasar, which recommends its teas according to individual shoppers’ preferences and expounds on each tea’s origin, terroir, cultivar and harvest date.

When shoppers browse clothes available at Style Theory, a fashion rental service, its “Smart Wardrobe of the Future”, made up of mirrors enhanced with RFID technology, will furnish the shopper with information about each garment, including pricing, sizes available and smart recommendations. Shoppers can also browse an array of fragrances by Oo La Lab and purchase the brand’s flagship Eau de Parfum Oo La Lab Mixology Kit, which lets one play chemist and personalise his or her own scent.

Address: Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Road #01-67 and #03-65 to 69

Opening hours: Daily 10am-10pm

Website: capitaland.com/sg/malls/plazasingapura/en/stores/nomadx.html