Beyond the Brand: Interview with Naiise
Everybody seems to have fallen head over heels for Naiise. We can see why. With a likeable range of quirky goodies you never knew you needed – and a touch of local flare, we’d be surprised if anyone leaves the store empty-handed.
We chat with the creator behind this fun brand, the man with the Midas touch, Dennis Tay about the roots of Naiise, the need to champion local designers, highlights of flagship at The Cathay and what’s next for the brand.
HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN?
I’ve always been fascinated by the process of how people create things that others would want to use. Personally, I have always liked creating value and being able to help people and their problems.
After I left the army, I started my first business, and later on started a creative agency. It was during my time there that I realised that our local creatives in Singapore have so much talent and potential, but were unable to create or sell their things due to the general fear of bleak consumer demands.
To some extent, they had a point, and I’ve always felt that the values of design were an alienating subject to many consumers. However, I grew up loving the creative industry, and I believe that design is not just about function, but also embraces many intangible values that I believe can better the lives of others. I founded Naiise to help share this belief, and it still remains our key philosophy till today.
WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME – “NAIISE”?
Naiise stands for all things nice! Our name guides us as a company in the way we try to work with people to achieve greater value and serves as a reminder to be sincere and authentic. It also guides me to hire people who believe in these values, and for me to treat them with respect. It also means that when we do our buying, we bring in products of value. It’s definitely more worthwhile achieving shared goals together with a bunch of like-minded people!
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO YOU TO SHOWCASE LOCAL TALENT?
Naiise as a platform to help local designers is important to me because I truly believe that design betters the lives of people in tangible and intangible ways. At the same time, I believe it is also crucial that designers, makers and artisans are given the opportunity to grow. This contribution can lead to a more vibrant and differentiated product market, which in turn can stimulate entrepreneurship opportunities and promote the export of Singapore products in the future. I think it is important that we all live with better products, and that our designers can also live with doing what they love.
I think this belief is paying off. At Naiise, we’ve seen many more local brands selling more than we used to compare to the earlier stages of the company. We have also seen some of our designers who started out as one-man teams grow to have their own teams and even their own retail spaces. Some of them have been able to take part in trade shows in overseas markets. We’re still far from where we want to be, but we’re definitely trying our best to help everyone get there.
WHY DID YOU MOVE TO BRICKS-AND-MOTAR?
We decided to move into brick-and-mortar once we had successfully tested our offline retail concept through pop-up stores and were given the right opportunities to move into establishing our first brick-and-mortar stores.
We believe that Singaporeans love shopping and that online shopping cannot fully replicate the experience of shopping in a physical store. Having a permanent physical space offers our shoppers greater convenience and also helps customers touch, feel and understand better a designer’s offerings.
Feedback from customers at our pop-up stores indicated that there was strong demand for a permanent location to house our retail concept and a wide array of design items. We decided that we wanted to create a one-stop destination that could help bring everyone closer to many aspects of design – through retail, F&B and workshops. We believe this is a good way to expose more people to interesting, well-designed products from both emerging and established designers.
WHAT WAS BEHIND THE DECISION TO CHOOSE THE CATHAY AS THE LOCATION FOR YOUR FLAGSHIP STORE?
Naiise strives to maintain strategic relations with landlords who are understanding of our position as a young bootstrapped local start-up and see value in our business model and range of product offerings.
We also take into consideration each potential store location’s primary target demographic and aim to reach out to a variety of people, as we believe that our products have strong appeal to audiences across all ages.
Our store at The Cathay allows us a new opportunity to capture a younger, arts-oriented market of consumers from a youth-oriented mall destination as well as neighbouring art schools and institutions in the vicinity.
TELL US MORE ABOUT THE STUDIO LIFE CONCEPT AND THE D-I-Y CORNER AT THE CATHAY STORE.
The Studio Life DIY concept is part of our strategy of retail-entertainment and emphasises our belief in creating memorable retail experiences in our stores. We believe that more customers are looking for differentiation, destination stores and unique and rewarding shopping experiences.
Naiise is constantly seeking to connect people with design, help them understand design products better, and also increase support for local designers by showcasing their work and help to grow an appreciation for the craft.
Additionally, our DIY section within the Studio Life area hopes to introduce craft to casual visitors to the store, where they can get hands-on with different types of craft. Currently, we’re showcasing yarn and some prototypes our team created, along with picture instructions for our visitors to interact with.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE CATHAY STORE?
The Cathay store is one of our favourite stores to be at, so it’s hard to pick a favourite corner! Our Kartoni Foosball Table by Kickpack is made from recycled cardboard and makes for good fun with a group of friends. We also love our Thank You Corner where we encourage visitors to write down little notes of appreciation for our designers and brands, and we’ve been receiving many kind and heartwarming handwritten notes, which inspire us in return to do better 🙂
APART FROM THE ABOVE, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CATHAY STORE?
Other highlights include our Gift Wrap corner with free stationery, wrapping paper and some customized stamps by local crafter Parademade, a dedicated desktop by local brand Snupped for you to entirely customize your very own laptop case or pouch, our Events showcase area featuring 3-5 rotating brand pop-ups every 2 months, and our collection of bean bags for anyone to test out and relax on.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR NAIISE?
After opening two stores, we will be focusing a bit more on refining our internal processes to make sure we are prepared for future expansion. We’re also already preparing for our annual Christmas pop-up, which is a great opportunity for us to reach out to different communities and create something more festive and interactive for everyone.
I definitely hope that Naiise will become a regional company representing and showcasing designers from across the globe. At the same time, we hope to become an everyday store to complement everyone’s lifestyles, where consumers are able to discover new products all the time and live with products we believe to better the lives of others.
