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Tag: naiise

  • Naiise founder confirms company’s liquidation

    Naiise founder confirms company’s liquidation

    Troubled home-grown retailer Naiise has gone into liquidation, after closing its last store last weekend following years of late payments to its vendors. The company’s founder, Dennis Tay, will also be filing for personal bankruptcy. In a Facebook post on Thursday, Mr. Tay said he had “exhausted (his) savings and borrowed heavily from banks” to keep the business afloat and repay Naiise’s vendors.

    He also signed personal guarantees for the loans, “because as long as Naiise was still a going concern, there was a chance that Naiise would be able to repay, however slowly”.

    “Unfortunately, I am now out of time and options,” Mr. Tay wrote, adding that it has been “an extremely difficult two years” and that the last few weeks were “the darkest of his life”.

    Last Sunday, Naiise closed its Jewel Changi Airport store – its last and largest in Singapore, amid an ongoing struggle to pay its vendors.

    It owes vendors sums ranging from hundreds of dollars to five-digit figures for selling their stocks on a consignment basis and has reportedly defaulted on payments since as early as 2016.

    Naiise was also fined S$8,000 last year for late payments of CPF contributions for employees. Currently, it has been charged with another offence under the Central Provident Fund Act, with the case slated for hearing next week.

    Mr. Tay, who started Naiise in 2013, wrote in his Facebook post: “As a business owner, the blame for Naiise’s demise is mine alone.

    “I’m sorry to the employees I let go. They helped build Naiise and I consider many of them friends. To those who are owed money, I am sorry I failed you all, and for all the inconvenience and distress this has caused. Apologies also to our marketplace sellers for shuttering operations so abruptly.”

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  • Singapore’s Naiise all but collapses under debts

    Singapore’s Naiise all but collapses under debts

    Singapore gift and homewares chain Naiise has closed its last store – the Iconic at Jewel Changi Airport – suggesting the end of the eight-year-old brand.

    Multiple sources say Naiise has collapsed due to its inability to paying debts to suppliers, and weak sales in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Opened in May 2019, Naiise Iconic at Jewel Changi was considered one of the company’s biggest investments, unknowingly made at the wrong time – just before Covid hit.

    Last year, the retailer fielded multiple complaints from vendors accusing of defaulting payments. At the same time, Naiise’s co-founder Amanda Eng reportedly quit her role in the company.

    According to Today, Naiise owes up to US$7500 to vendors, many of whom have ended their relationship with Naiise and given up claims on the grounds the legal process is too costly and time-consuming.

    “My game-publishing studio has been a vendor of Naiise since 2015 and we have been owed money since 2018,” said Lye Wen Song Xeo, co-founder of Capital Gains Studio wrote on Facebook. “Promises made to repay have all been broken again and again and we had no choice but to pull our games out early last year.”

    “Covid-19 has been very hard on many of our distributors and I appreciate those distributors that came clean with us and honestly shared with us their problems and what their plans [were] if they are unable to pay us. However, shirking responsibilities and not coming clean with your vendors is honestly… not Naiise,” said Xeo.

    Despite its physical stores closing, Naiise continues to trade online and at a Kuala Lumpur outlet. Founded in 2013, Naiise had six stores in Singapore and Malaysia.

  • Naiise Iconic store opens at Changi Airport

    Naiise Iconic store opens at Changi Airport

    A Naiise Iconic store has opened at Jewel Changi Airport. Spanning almost 9500sqft across a two-story space, Naiise Iconic store brings new creative brands and ‘experience stations’ to customers.

    The first one is a tea bar run by homegrown tea marketplace Teapasar, which hosts more than 30 tea brands and 100 types of tea. Customers can get their teas roasted on the spot for the freshest possible brew.

    The airport store – a new concept for the homewares-and-gifts retailer – also hosts Naiise’s first cafe, featuring foods and beverages from local brands. At an ‘open-source’ communal pantry, customers can enjoy Joe & Dough, Bettr Barista, superfood juice maker Doki Doki, or breakfasts from Udders.

    There is also a stationery corner, where customers can design their own notebooks, picking out a cover, selecting a combination of papers, then choosing binding rings and elastic bands.

    On the second floor, there is a section for local fashion and beauty brands, ranging ladies’ and kids’ fashion, accessories, fragrances and grooming. Beauty brand Alche{me} has a mini lab there to help customers find products that work for their unique skin types.

    To support local entrepreneurs, the store introduces Launchpad, an area where brands can display their products and ideas to test customer demand and perception.

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  • Naiise goes big with largest store opening at Central

    Naiise goes big with largest store opening at Central

    Can someone give Naiise’s founder Dennis Tay and his team a trophy? In just two-a-half years, the retailer of Singapore-designed products went from a one-man show operating an online store to opening three physical outlets with a team of 20 employees. To boot, all three stores — in West Mall, Wheelock Place and now Central (Clarke Quay) — were launched consecutively in the last four months at a time when the retail climate is considered sluggish.

    “We have been extremely lucky in terms of consumer demand for our unique products, as well as the opportunities given by our landlords,” said Tay who was approached by landlords such as CapitalMalls Asia (WestGate) on all three occasions. He added that much effort was also made to differentiate each store and come up with “interesting and interactive” experiences” to avoid customer fatigue.

    For instance, the WestGate outlet in the heartlands of Jurong is stocked with family-oriented offerings, such as home accessories and kidswear to cater to the families in the area. Meanwhile, the selection at Wheelock is carefully curated to showcase best-sellers, new arrivals and Naiise exclusives to make better use of its smaller space.

    In contrast, Naiise’s latest outlet, which was officially launched yesterday (July 10) is billed as a “design megastore”. It occupies the whopping 6,500sqf space vacated by Hong Kong lifestyle brand, Goods Of Desire (G.O.D) which closed down in April.

    When Far East Organization first approached Tay about taking over the space, he admitted to being “quite terrified” because the space was so big”. He took the plunge believing that “the experience and benefits from this location would outweigh any costs”. To minimise cost, the layout worked around existing furnishings while the team did much of the redecorating, such as installation work, carpentry and painting, themselves. Additional fixtures were sourced, salvaged or purchased cheaply from local suppliers.

    Like the outlet at Wheelock Place, the current lease for Central runs until the end of the year but Tay is keen to continue for as long as possible. He remains unfazed by the failure of G.O.D to crack the market here, as he feels Naiise’s product offerings already resonate well with local shoppers and now with tourists. The latter make up 50 per cent of the customers at the outlet since its soft opening last month.

    Moreover, the company is banking on creating unique and experiential concepts at Central by having a dedicated workshop area for weekend sessions that can accommodate up to 20 people. The larger space also allows Naiise to introduce new product segments of books, music and magazines, and encourage customers to linger; they are invited to make themselves comfortable on Doob bean bags found around the store. More than 4,000 products, including major items like furniture, from over 400 brands can be found here. In keeping with its mission to promote Singaporean design, 60 per cent of the stocks here are designed or made in Singapore, and these items with a local spin, such as Singapore Sling-flavoured jams, have proven popular with tourists. Tay hopes this is Naiise’s small way of helping boost the awareness and demand of local designs and products with an overseas audience. Naiise is also celebrating SG50 by giving 500 S$5 cash vouchers (for every S$50 spent) on the website and any of their stores from next Monday.

    And in case you’re wondering, Naiise will be continuing with their popular pop-up events, which has seen food and art collaborations in shophouses. “Our growth strategy for Naiise is to work hard at merging all channels and platforms to seamlessly connect the shopping experience for our customers, whether online and offline,” Tay said. “Naiise will also work hard to retain its focus on bringing unique design products for everyone.”

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