Club 21 to open Asia’s largest Apple Computer store in Singapore next month

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Luxury fashion retailer Club 21 will enter the IT retail business by opening Asia’s largest Apple Computer store in Singapore next month, the Business Times (Singapore) reports. The 10,000 square foot shop planned for the 3rd floor of Orchard Cineleisure is scheduled to open Nov. 19 and will offer Apple full Mac and iPod lineups along with related peripherals and accessories. There will also be authorized service for Apple product owners, the Business Times reports.

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Lah!

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  4. Here’s the full article.

    From the Business Times edition.

    Club 21 to open Asia’s largest Apple shop
    Orchard Cineleisure store to offer range of computers and iPod music players

    (SINGAPORE) Luxury fashion retailer Club 21 Pte Ltd will mark its maiden foray into the IT retail business with a big bang, by opening Asia’s largest Apple store in Singapore next month.

    The 10,000 sq foot shop on the third floor of Orchard Cineleisure is slated to open on Nov 19, after renovations. The store takes over the floor space previously occupied by women’s fitness chain Amore Fitness and slimming studio Beauty Express.

    The Club 21 ishop, the brainchild of Christina Ong, founder and owner of Club 21 and wife of prominent hotelier Ong Beng Seng, will offer Apple’s range of computers and its ubiquitous iPod portable music players alongside a wide array of related peripherals and accessories, including Club 21 ishop-branded accessories. It will also retail complementary products from other brands including digital imaging products from Canon and audio products from Bose.

    Beyond retail, the Club 21 ishop will also have five rooms which will be used for software training, and also a cafe.

    There will be an authorised service point for Apple product owners to send in their equipment for repair and maintenance.

    Club 21 is still in the process of hiring staff for the new shop, a spokesperson said. ‘We see this as a very natural extension from what we are doing, as technology is an increasingly integral part of our customers’ lifestyle,’ said the spokesperson.

    Besides Club 21 boutiques, Mrs Ong is also known for her spa and yoga centres, including the Shambhala Yoga Centre at Forum The Shopping Mall, and also for her high-end resorts such as Uma Ubud in Bali, and the first five-star hotel in Bhutan, Uma Paro.

    Club 21 retails luxury brands such as Calvin Klein, Giorgio Armani and Donna Karan.

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  5. LWF Shorthorn

    You have Tiger correct. Highlight Singapore, ‘right-click’ and select ‘Look up in Dictionary’ and a map will appear of the specified area. You have now become a little bit more knowledgeable and a little, very little bit less dumber. ” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />

    Reply

  6. FYI. Christina Ong is the wife of a billionaire in Singapore. Unfortuately, service standards in Apple retail outlets in Singapore still pales in comparison as compared to genius bars in US.

    Link to an image of the concept of the store –

    FIRST it was fashion. Then came hotels. Now, Christina Ong wants a bite of the Apple.

    Fashion-hotel entrepreneur Christina Ong moves into cyber-chic with her ishop (below), which is slated to be the largest authorised Apple retailer in Singapore.

    The Singaporean fashion-hotel entrepreneur will open her first cyber store on the third floor of Cineleisure in Orchard Road in the middle of next month.

    At 10,000-sq ft, it bills itself as the largest authorised Apple retailer in Singapore.

    Called the ishop, it will sell Apple merchandise, related products, as well as electronic and lifestyle gadgets and accessories from brands like Canon and Bose.

    The tech store will house a service centre, a retail space and five training rooms for software training and workshops for customers. There will also be a 300-sq ft cafe that serves snacks.

    Ong owns the Club 21 fashion chain and is the wife of businessman Ong Beng Seng.

    Club 21 was started in 1972 and currently distributes fashion brands like Diesel and Dolce & Gabbana. Ong, who also has a majority stake in British brand Mulberry, helped put Singapore on the world fashion map in the 1990s. She currently owns Emporio Armani and Giorgio Armani Collezione stores in London’s hip districts like Sloane Street and Knightsbridge Road.

    The ishop’s interiors – in black and grey – is designed by Kathryn Kng. The Singapore interior designer is also responsible for Uma Paro in Bhutan and The Metropolitan Bangkok. Both are luxury hotels under Ong’s hotel business arm Como Hotels and Resorts.

    Como, which set up office here earlier this year, currently owns luxury resorts like Begawan Giri in Bali and Parrot Cay in the Caribbean island of Turks and Caicos. Ong, who is her 50s, also owns Shambhala, a yoga and spa business arm.

    It is believed that ishop staff will be dressed in designer labels, though a Club 21 spokesman declined to comment. Hotel staff in the Metropolitan hotel in Bangkok wear uniforms commissioned specially from Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto.

    Although the media-shy Ong, whose last interview was with London’s Financial Times in 2002, declined to be interviewed for this story, it is believed there are unconfirmed plans to expand the ishop concept into Hong Kong and Bangkok.

    Reply

  7. I cant imagine mac users to ask dumb questions without even consulting Google Search. Finally I got to see one over here. How sad.

    From: RedStarr
    Oct 11, 05 – 11:00 pm
    LWF Shorthorn

    You have Tiger correct. Highlight Singapore, ‘right-click’ and select ‘Look up in Dictionary’ and a map will appear of the specified area. You have now become a little bit more knowledgeable and a little, very little bit less dumber. wink

    Reply

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