Southeast Asian fashion retailer FJ Benjamin is leaning into the post-pandemic return of brick-and-mortar retail with the opening of Avenue on 3, a swanky multi-brand lifestyle store in Singapore’s Paragon Shopping Centre.
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Douglas Benjamin, group chief executive officer of FJB, said: “We had a lot of time during the Covid-19 lockdown to think of how we want to do things differently for our
customers, how to make their shopping experience more exciting and experiential, and essentially, how we wanted to reimagine the business of FJ Benjamin.”
Designed to cater to high-end customers craving fresh and innovative shopping experiences, Avenue on 3 is an 8,000-square-foot boutique overlooking the shopping centre’s atrium from the third floor. The main attraction here, as envisioned by FJ Benjamin, is the extensive selection of ladies’ shoes from brands including Aquazzura, Gianvito Rossi, Alaïa, René Caovilla, Loewe, and Giuseppe Zanotti.
Avenue on 3 also sells accessories such as eyewear, handbags and jewellery from brands such as Linda Farrow, Valextra, Tom Ford, Lanvin, and Oscar de la Renta, among others.
Completing the shopping experience is the presence of beauty and lifestyle brands, including Lebanese chocolatier Patchi, Dr. Barbara Sturm, and MZ Skin, which can be experienced in special suites for facials and other beauty and spa treatments.
A 40-seater café bar on the premises serves coffee in the daytime, followed by champagne and caviar from late afternoon.
Avenue on 3 is “unlike any other upscale fashion store FJB has ever opened in
Singapore,” Mr Benjamin said.
“The luxury market in Singapore has been remarkably resilient, outpacing the broader market. The population of high net worth individuals in Singapore has increased significantly in recent years, and with rising wealth comes a corresponding increase in demand for luxury goods and services, which bodes well for Avenue on 3’s success in Singapore.”
Also in the pipeline at Avenue 3 is a pop-up store by Italian luxury house Bottega Veneta, featuring products exclusively available at the store.
Avenue on 3 also plans to launch its own customer relationship management
smartphone app, which will extend rewards to its member base.
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The new retail concept is seen to diversify FJB’s business which spans retail fashion, wellness and skincare, managing over 20 fashion brands including Marc Jacobs, Fauré Le Page, and Pretty Ballerinas, and approximately 144 stores in Southeast Asia.