Hi everyone!
Sunflower wishes you a happy and prosperous lunar new year!
Its a brand new year , and there is always a flurry of activity and hope associated with that special date.
Technically its now the ninth day of the Lunar Chinese new year and everyone everywhere is settling back into their comfortable work-life pace again. Sighs, no more angbao's and long weekends.
However there is still much to look forward to, here's a hint from me , Sunflower will be embarking on something really new and its a period of excitement for all of us.
And since this is the virgin post of Sunflower's spanking new blog, here's a summary of what Sunflower's been through in the year of 2009!
Sunflower is started by a pair of brothers, Boon Kiat( Fhank) and Boon Cheong, ( quite similar to Charles and Keith eh) who brought their complementary strengths into this business. Usually opening a business requires a lot of unnecessary red tapes and boring procedures, but after setting their minds on it, Sunflower was opened after a mere 2 months of preparation (quite a mean feat!)
when everything was still bare and empty..
the "seeding" process, the shelves and structure of the shop emerging.
just a fun fact: Do you know that all of our construction materials are eco-friendly? Bet you didn't know that!
tadah! the " garden" is completed, now for the " flowers" and the items to adorn those empty shelves.
Official opening on the 2nd of october, we welcomed our first few tenants. Doesn't it look cosy with the yellow lightings, we are now ready for business!
A selection of our products, many of which are handmade, unique and eco-friendly.
And the giantic sunflower, which a lot of people use to recognize us. There are 4 of our giant sunflowers placed all around City Square mall, do you know where all of them are? Look our for it yea?
We also bring this sunny flower to many of our bazaars, which you'll know more about in a while .
"everyone has a sunflower day" promotion during our opening week( left)
a collage of the sunflower identity(right), there's a saying here , we just want others to know that we own the shop and not the items, the products are all from individuals who have gathered together to join the sunflower family under our banner of the H.U.E.S concept, which stands for handmade, unique, eco-friendly and Socially conscious .
Hence, its like we're a collection of special and handmade items under one roof. All the more easier for eveyone to browse with everything located in one place
in our second month, we're star-struck! see if you can recognize any of the Mediacorp stars! Besides occasional star gazing,this is the period in which we recieved the most media attention and coverage.
we were featured on CHIC magazine, and also appeared on the front cover of I -weekly 's supplement, with Evelyn , no less!
Pictures speak better for themselves, so here's some snapshots of those glossy covers!
for those who's not friends with the Chinese language, its an article on eco-friendly and green items within City Square mall which is Singapore's first eco-mall.
And Sunflower is proud to say that we have a wide variety of green items, from the organic bedsheets to recycled aluminium bottles down to bikes. Bikes? you might ask, yes, even bikes, and a retro styled, back pedal brake model to boot.
p.s, its the same one that evelyn is sitting pretty on.
This concludes her brief but exciting debut in Sunflower, She's truly real in person and is fun, friendly, interesting and really tall.( or it might partly be because of her 4.5 inch heels--she's towering over Fhank in this picture here)
and we've all joined her fan page on facebook XD
Next up, we were featured on Housewives Pte ltd, a prime-time 8pm variety show which features housewives who are also involved with home businesses. One of our partners , Lien,who is the creator of the handmade brand " Hugplush" , is the focus of the episode. And just like that, she became famous overnight, with the demand for her shooting up so much that she is constantly busy.
here's a link to the media feature on mediacorp:
Sunflower on housewife pte ltd
The show was hosted by experienced Taiwanese born host, Quan Yi Feng. It was an absolute thrill to see her in person, and her professionalism can be said to be stunning.
and of course the compulsory photo with the host:
Most of Lien's Huplush series have been sold out ever since, and even now after she have just stocked up, most of her items have been snapped up by adoring fans of her brand. But fret not, she has specially introduced a UNIQUE series EXCLUSIVE to sunflower.
hence Introducing her baa baa sheep series!
there are limited pieces left as it was launched before valentine's day. ( many were gone during the last few days before valentine's day, so many a lucky girls out there now owns part of the limited edition baa baa series! )
come get us before we're all gone! XD
we were also featured in CHIC magazine in their December issue , did anyone see it?
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Speaking of December, it was another fun packed, exciting month for us all, as CHRISTMAS IS COMING!
And what better way to celebrate it than with freebies? ( who doesn't love freebies in Singapore?)
For Christmas, we came up with new media posters and flyers that entitled the holder to discounts, as the date draws closer to Christmas Day, we gave out free Sun Candles . ( LED eco-friendly candles that flickers like real flame)
Our new media posters festooned all around our retail shop's wall
Promotions galore for the month of December, in collaboration with Royals cafe and with City Square Mall.
look at the popularity of the freebies, the queues were snaking all the way to the lift! Funny how orderly Singaporean can be? as long as there's freebies, queues will form. We even had to break up the time in which we gave out the candles as the queues were getting a little too long.
here's a snapshot of what's being given out.
pretty isn't it? The ones that were given out were that of the on/off switch version, whereas we are currently selling another version of the same LED candles ,just that it activates by sensors and will turn on and off just by a light touch.
its going for 3 for $9.90, and comes in 6 colors!
The freebies team, though tired, but their bright cheery smiles still captured the hearts of many passerbys.
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Coming up will be more pictures of our roving santa and santarinas with our giant sunflower. They have been tasked with the serious mission of brightening up shopper's Christmas. so here's to a sunny sunny christmas!
giving out the sunflower flyers with complimentary candy and discount vouchers
A happy team at the end of the day
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December was also a first for us as we started going go bazaars to gain more experience and to create more exposure for our shop. Some of you might have seen our giant sunflower in different parts of Singapore, if you do see us , do come and say hello!
Believe me, it'll totally make our day!
First we went to Bazaar En Route's Clarke Quay bazzar on 11th and 12th December. It was really hot at first as we were situated right under the canopy, however we changed our mind when night hits. The cool night breeze coupled with the laidback relaxed air all around as expatriates and locals looking to rewind mingled all around.
It was a really delightful experience and we were all sad when its time to pack up and go..
Our Giant Sunflower lights up our booth, Voodoo dolls are our specialty as well, and sales for them are always very encouraging at bazaars.
Our debut at Bazaars!
we also met our partner , Crystal Dollies, there. They make gorgeous vintage inspired accessories, and now they are currently having a promotion of 2 for $25, is that cheap or what? Own a lovingly handmade and unique necklace or earring for just $12.50!
p.s, We'll be going to bazaars at NUS, Marina Barrage and Clarke Quay very very soon! watch this space for the details! Be there to soak up the fun and happiness!
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Due to a sudden brainwave that Fhank had after attending the Clarke Quay bazaars, we started our very own mini event tables. Every weekend, we will invite any of our tenants and partners to make use of the table so that it feels like there is a " live" bazaar outside our shop. Til now, we are the only handmade concept store that organizes weekly mini events. As most of our items are all handmade, many of our partners have held live demonstrations and mini workshops at the table to the delight of many of the shoppers.
This is a snapshot of one of the events in which live flowers which are preserved forever and could react to humidity are being sold. The crowd just cant get enough of them!
The event tables are certified crowd pullers, if you had not come to our shop during any mini event, WHAT are you waiting for? we'll be having our next event on the 28th of Feb. Featuring MumLuvDiy, which is a handmade brand offering customized pouches, bags, passport covers and more in your favourite japanese fabrics. See you there!
Hard at work..
handmade= love + time, from the creator to you.
Bright smiles all around. Sunflower is glad to be able to bring the process of handmaking closer to everyone.
Recently, have heard someone commenting that even though that our items are handmade, its very good in quality. This remark saddens me a lot, since when have the word handmade be synonymous with inferior quality? I guess, if there were more exposure on how handmade items are created, this might increase more awareness about handmade items in Singapore. Overseas, handicraft fairs are available abundantly, whereas locally, handicraft is generally deemed not to be a viable livelihood. Hopefully this perspective will change over time with the appropriate exposure.
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Also, Sunflower have reached another milestone. OUR 500TH FACEBOOK FAN, which happened just after 2.5 months of operation, this is definitely something to be cheery about!
Congrats to Valerie! Thanks for supporting Sunflower, and thanks to all our fans who have joined us!
At present count, we have a strong 1,229 fan base. We could not have achieve what we have without all of your help. Thank you everyone~!
And as the year 2009 draws to a close, We were contented for just a moment , and look back at the journey we have made over the 3 months that we have been operating.
But all our success story could not happen without all of your support, so once again, with heartfelt gratefulness, we thank all of the people who have supported us from the very beginning when we were " just another shop " out there.
The next post will be a continuation of what Sunflower have gone through for the brand new year of 2010, and of what's coming up, so mark this space!
whatever happens, you know you heard it from me first!
Still remember our exclusive Ipod touch grand draw??
So, will you be the next Fiona? We bet you will have more reasons to have a smile this broad , only at Sunflower!
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