Furniture brand Castlery sets foot in Australia

Singapore furniture retail company, Castlery announced its expansion into Australia last week.

It is reportedly the first homegrown furniture brand with the presence of a flagship experience centre in Australia. Based in Sydney, Castlery Australia will cater to the growing demands among consumers in Australia for furniture with great aesthetics at a competitive price point.

“We started Castlery with no experience in the furniture industry, but we believe in taking a hands-on approach to build a scalable and adaptable business model. Our team has visited close to 1,000 factories across the region, along our strong network of regional suppliers, we have gained good knowledge in marrying technology and retail to build a nimble integrated supply chain to cater to country-specific demands,” said Declan Ee, co-founder of Castlery.

Learnings from Castlery’s operation in Singapore has also helped the founders develop the foresight to predict and react to consumer behaviour and perceptions timely, which resulted in optimising production capacity and better pricing strategy.

Castlery worked closely with government agencies SPRING Singapore and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore to improve its operational capacity and efficiency, and seek new growth overseas. It received support to build an integrated supply chain system for its warehouse management processes in Singapore, as well as market insights, connections and branding assistance for its overseas operations in Australia.

The company said it exceeded sales of AUD 1 million (US$750,000) in less than four months. Spanning 12,000 square-feet, Castlery’s Sydney Studio features a variety of bespoke designs – from sofas to bedframes, and floor lamps to mirrors – essential for furnishing any home or office space.

Adopting the 21st century method of omni-channel retailing, Castlery streamlines shoppers’ experiences with their online-to-offline furniture shopping model. The Australian consumers can first explore the range of thoughtfully-crafted furnishing pieces via the intuitive online showroom before visiting the Sydney Studio for a tactile feel and learn about the story behind the designs.