79 318
CHINESE ANTIQUES
79
May15
AComing
For German expat CONSTANZE
HOHMANN, becoming the
new owner of the popular
FairPrice Antique furniture and
accessories business is a dream
come true.
Verne Maree
finds
out how it happened.
What brought you to Singapore
just over 18 months ago?
My husband’s job in advertising: it
keeps us moving. We came here after
spending three years back in our home
country Germany. Before that, we lived
in Dubai, also for three years.
After the first year here, I started
looking for a job. But with Singapore
being a hub, I soon found that most
roles in my area of expertise would have
required a lot of travelling. With our son
being so young (now 5), that was not
what I wanted.
Around that time, I met Helle
Espersen, the founder and previous
owner of FairPrice Antique. She had
already moved back to Denmark, and
was running the business from there,
but happened to be here in Singapore
to clear a container of merchandise. We
clicked immediately, and soon started
talking about the idea of me acquiring
the business from her.
What was it about FairPrice
Antique that attracted you?
For years I’d dreamt of having something
of my own, something to do with interior
decoration, furniture and accessories.
Only, I never dared to take the plunge.
But this was the perfect fit, and I thought:
why not?
I loved everything about the place and
was already a loyal customer. Though
we brought a 40-foot container of stuff
from Germany, our three-storey house
in the Bukit Timah area required more
furniture than we came with – a good
excuse to shop!
It was reassuring that FairPrice
Antique had been established in the
market for 12 years, and that it proved
to have a strong P&L. Asking around, I
found that it had a really good reputation,
too. To be frank, though, it was mainly
about Helle herself: I instinctively liked
and trusted her from the start, and now
I see her as my mentor and “big sister”.
How do you run your business?
Not having a warehouse, what you
see in the shop is the stock at hand.
Every three months, I personally travel
to Beijing to source new stock through
my agents and at the markets, and then
bring in a container. If a customer is
looking for something specific that we
don’t have, I’ll do my best to source it
for them.
Sticking to the promise implicit in the
name FairPrice, we set our prices very
competitively; that’s why we don’t need
to offer discounts. We are also very
transparent: unlike most other stores, we
do advertise our prices on our website.
It’s also important for us to be very clear
on whether a piece is antique (100
years or older), old, or a reproduction.
That said, I have a great respect for
our high-quality, handmade replicas.
Having visited workshops and watched
the craftsmen at work, I know that the
Photography by Ken Tan