Booze@Jalan; Besar 111 Jalan Besar; Tel 6294-7500
JALAN Besar may be known for being steeped in history - beautifully restored shophouses, cut-price shopping at the old school Sungei Road 'Thieves Market' and of course, Little India, but it has certainly never been known for being the go-to place for luxury goods.
At least, not until local wine distributor Taste of Tradition decided to open Booze, a high-end wine boutique last October.
'Taste of Tradition moved their main office to Jalan Besar about eight years ago,' reveals Taste's executive director Emil Teo. 'The decision to open Booze at Little India was one of convenience. It is Taste of Tradition's showroom but doubles as a Booze Wineshop; the space is divided into three sections - wines, glassware and crystalware.'
Taste chose to shy away from more commercial areas when deciding on a location for its new boutique.
'Yes, a wine boutique would benefit from a location with greater footfall, but Booze@Jalan Besar is not a High Street wine boutique but a destination outlet,' he insists.
'Our store at Jalan Besar carries the very limited and boutique wine labels, which come to us in such small quantity that we do not actively market it.' These wines, he says, tend to be small releases from represented wineries such as the Remelluri Blanco where only 36 bottles a year are available for sale.
Mr Teo adds that the location at Little India has allowed the store to better showcase the company's portfolio.
'The added space gives us more flexibility,' he says. 'We have a wine training and tasting room on the second level that allows us to host our clients and guests when we have winemakers in town. We also have complete control over the opening hours - flexibility that we get from not being located in a mall.'
That the inconvenience of the location might be a deterrence to customers does not faze Mr Teo, who believes that people will travel for items they desire.
'Town is a fantastic location to look for easily available wines,' he concludes. 'But our shop caters primarily to wine connoisseurs and to those looking for something very very different, and I believe that local wine enthusiasts will go the distance for collectable or rare wines.'
This article was first published in The Business Times.
