Before starting the multi-brand Singaporean beauty retail chain Novela back in 2013, its co-founders Ben Lin, 39, and Eugene Tay, 34, didn’t have any plans of carving out an entrepreneurial career based on skincare and perfumes.
Fast forward to today and they’ve got seven stores around Singapore. Novela has become a familiar sight at heartland malls such as IMM, Tampines 1 and Waterway Point, and it has even drawn comparisons to other popular beauty retailers such as Sephora, Olive Young and Sasa.
They’ve done so by doing things a little bit different – by stocking up on “emerging and niche brands” you might not find anywhere else.
While Novela stocks well-known counter names that are available elsewhere, such as Sulwhasoo, SK-II, Estee Lauder, La Mer and La Prairie, it also carries cult brands that may be lesser-known but have also found popularity because they have strong USPs, according to Tay.