Journey East Review: Furniture store with hidden bar at Tan Boon Liat Building
One of Tan Boon Liat Building’s stalwart and most beloved furniture stores gets a cool and refreshing makeover
By Asih Jenie -
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It’s tough times for brick and mortar shops. Like F&B joints, they must constantly reinvent themselves to attract a new generation of shoppers pampered by the ease of online shopping.
One of Singapore’s favourite furniture shops, Journey East has navigated the turbulent waters of the retail world with aplomb.
What is Journey East?
Founded in 1995 in Dempsey Hill as a vintage furniture story selling retro teak pieces from the bygone era, it moved to the Tan Boon Liat Building (which has since turned into Singapore’s unofficial furniture hub) in 2008.
Over the years, Journey East made a name for itself for quirky vintage pieces, curated brands and a store ambassador named Ginger, a resident orange cat that delighted shoppers until his peaceful passing at the extraordinary age of 29 human years old.
Read Also: Tan Boon Liat Furniture Guide: 14 Best Shops To Visit (Plus Cafes!)
The bright facade of the showroom features a light box and an upside-down installation.
The 8,600 sq ft store was refurbished late last year, offering shoppers a fresh look and unique retail experience.
“We have been evolving towards a more refined, sleeker, and design-centric offering for our customers,” shares Journey East’s general manager Terence Teh. This direction is apparent in the refurbished store.
Designed by interior designer Dennis Cheok and team from his studio UPSTRS_, the new showroom features splashes of Journey East’s signature orange colour, that adds freshness and contrast to the neutral colour palette of the furniture.
Quirky throw from Slowdown Studio contrasted against the orange wall.
The most notable feature of this new showroom is a neon-lit long bar counter finished with subway mosaic tiles with orange grouting.
Read More: 10 Best Furniture Shops in Singapore
The bar hosts a checkout counter, as well as a fully functioning bar that serves drinks and anchors special events.
Journey East: Furniture store with a hidden bar
“The bar is open,” says the neon sign behind the counter, which were fashioned after Journey East’s founder and managing director Anita Sam’s handwriting.
Customers are welcome to hang out at the bar as they shop or wait for their loved ones to finish shopping. The bar also serves as the anchor point for special store programmes and soirees that often invite guest bartenders, DJs, designers, makers and other creatives.
A display dedicated to Swedish rug brand Pappelina.
Here and there light boxes with thought-provoking phrases and playful installation created with furniture brands sold in the showroom – which include Qeeboo, dBodhi, District Eight, Pappelina, Slowdown Studio, Gangzai, Journey’s East’s own Floorish rug collection, and many more – inspire shoppers to take home a little bit of the showroom’s cool factor and infuse it into their own spaces.
Safe to say that Journey East will stay a favourite for many for a long time still.
Journey East is at #03-02 Tan Boon Liat building.