seen@Dempsey; Blk 26, #01-03 Dempsey Rd; Tel 6475-0730
THAT the meteoric rise of Dempsey as a food and beverage destination in the past few years would have captured the attention of restaurateurs and foodies alike is unsurprising. But it has interestingly, also caught the eye of some enterprising retailers hoping to feed off the hungry crowd.
One such retailer is Lionel Boh who chose to open his optical shop - seen@Dempsey - at the food haven last November.
'Dempsey Hill is centrally located and is easily accessible to tourists and businessmen who require a new pair of spectacles urgently if they misplace them during their flight to Singapore or if they have accidentally broken them,' explains Mr Boh.
'Besides that, we adored the hip factor of Dempsey Hill, the high ceiling and spacious interior to house the widest range of top designer brands eyewear in Singapore and our state-of-the art clinical eye examination facilities.'
And while some might find his choice of location strange, Mr Boh believes that 'being located in an F&B cluster makes it more convenient for people to drop by for their prescription and to collect their new eyewear after their lunch or dinner.'
The unique location not only allows seen@Dempsey to operate beyond normal mall operating hours, its close proximity to the restaurants and bars has inevitably led customers to linger in the store.
'We had a Thai tourist who came to Dempsey Hill to dine at Tawandang, walked into our boutique and liked our store and staff so much that he spent two entire days at the store and treated our staff to lunch and dinner. He even bought two pair of prescription glasses,' reveals Mr Boh.
'Our customers usually spend a couple of hours at our boutique enjoying a cup of coffee or soft drinks while shopping ... We also had customers who enjoyed hanging out in the store so much that they forgot the time and there were many times that we had to close after midnight.'
More importantly, this business model appears to be a successful one.
'We have been profitable since we opened the store on Nov 1, 2009. Within the first few weeks of opening, we have a number of suppliers approaching us to carry their brands,' concludes Mr Boh. 'It is not easy to open accounts with certain top international brands especially if you are a new shop or an unknown brand.'
