Drink-shopping

Shopping with a difference, sounds like a nice evening out with the girls. A shoe boutique with accessories and clothes in 'friendlier sizes', serves martinis and holds theme parties :)

Excerpts from Business Times report on 26 July, pic from Red Carpet:

Red Carpet - a shoe boutique owned by two sisters, Tricia and Dionne Fok - offer beautiful shoes that were both "affordable and comfortable in the market". Ms Tricia Fok, 30, is the older of the two and also owns an events management company. A $100,000 investment blew life into their first collection of 42 shoe designs and eight party-ready bags. But it's not mass market either, as there are only 15 pairs for each design and colour.

Cross Guess by Marciano with Christian Louboutin, and you get a middle ground that's Red Carpet - but priced at $50 to $120 a pair.

For the making of the shoes, both women traipsed to Hong Kong, Japan and Korea on seven or eight different trips. Using the local Yellow Pages, they went door-to-door to solicit the best workmanship for the job. Extra cushioning was a must and, of course, the softest leather had to be used in the hand-stitched creations.

That done, a call from a property agent friend in late May solved the issue of finding a store. 'We got the shophouse at Club Street with a low lease, so customers wouldn't be paying for our rent when they buy our shoes.'

Her 'shop to relax' philosophy more than explains the well-stocked bar in the store. It offers the store's signature Red Carpet martini, lychee martinis and some selection of red and white wines, for women and their husbands and boyfriends 'to chill out and relax'. In the coming months, Red Carpet will expand to an accessories line, and start launching periodic theme parties.

Seems like drinks are for members only at the moment, wonder why, are they free? Anyway, sounds like an interesting concept, and busy working women could just shop online, free delivery within Singapore.

Red Carpet is at 58 Club Street