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Molek FMBattery Acid Club / Objekt – Object + Aaron Tan / Swiss Ooi / Hsien Foo
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Aaron Tan + Swiss Ooi + Hsien Foo
Creative Collective
Coming from creative backgrounds, the troika of owners have conceptualised this space of bringing people together under one roof where customers can savour a cup of aromatic coffee, shop a piece of well-preserved collectibles, and possibly educate oneself about modernist design. Needless to say, it is an admirably ambitious venture.
Why is Objekt—Object so small? Is there a reason why you placed the store in the back rather than the front?
Hsien We designed the whole shop in four ways, quarter of it went to the bar, the other part went to the kitchen and the toilet, the other quarter comes to the sitting, and the quarter goes to the retail. And why the retail is behind because…
Swiss … this space is not just about coffee or selling things, it’s more of an event space. We want to keep [the centre of the store] more spacious so that in the future if anyone wants to curate or wants to rent out the space, there’s a lot of possibilities that can be done.
H So all this space is modular, you can shift, make or move things out. Small product launches, networking sessions, we’re planning a screening as well.
S And we wouldn’t say that [Objekt—Object] is a retail store, it’s more of a lifestyle store.
Aaron [Despite] the size, if you noticed the cafe is ‘colder’ than the retail store, which is warmer [due to the lighting]. It’s more like a focal point. You know, like when you have a warm colour and the rest is cold? So your eyes will focus on that area, so when people go in they can see the retail store [right away].
S For me as a retail manager, I’m able to start a conversation with customers, to have a closer relationship because the space is small.
How do you guys source for these items?
H All of us do the sourcing, we have different strength in sourcing.
S I’m actually in charge of the curation. But as we are shorthanded, whenever I need help, they will jump in.
H I will jump in or Aaron will jump in. Aaron takes care of the branding side. He does all the promotional, in-house designs.
S Some are our own collections, some are consignments, so it’s a mixture of overseas brands and designers. Some overseas brands we have are Braun watches, Unit Portables bags from Sweden; local designers, we have The Alphabet Press, Mossery, Good Pair… in a way, it’s a balance between local and international designers.
So it’s not purely a vintage store?
S Yeah, no. Even with the vintage dresses, clothes, and shirts, the graphics are more of a modernist design. Not too old, you know?
Is having a contemporary detail to a vintage piece important?
H Minimalist… Not contemporary, more modern.
Oh, there’s a difference? Clearly by now you can tell that we are not well-versed in the study of design – could you please enlighten us?
H (Laughs) No lah. Modern… I would say ‘50s? Up to ‘80s, ‘70s? I would consider most of the designs as timeless, sleek, and clean compared to contemporary. Contemporary, it means current, like now, ‘00s.
S The stuff that we curate is more timeless, functional, and is meant to be long-lasting.
You guys also put quite a lot of care into sprucing up the items. How much of the original state of an item is retained and how much do you change?
H For us, vintage has to be original lah, it has to be as original as possible. Like all the chairs and the watches we bring in…
S Or let’s say for vintage brochures, we would send it for service first to make sure it works. And for chairs, we’ll send it for refurbishing…
H Or we’d try to source as mint condition as possible. It’s not like what I do at Outdated where we sell things as is or something that’s rustic or industrious… It has to have a brand, it has to have a make, it has to have a designer. I would there’s more value, more things into that product.
Could you tell us how do you guys determine the price point of the items?
H We try to compare it to the international market… i.e. Ebay – there’s a lot. But we try to value it to be more affordable for Malaysia.
Do you guys change the stock of items in the store often?
S Yes, we will swap once in awhile, add in stuff. It depends on our curation. Recently, we just changed the curation to [Massimo] Vignelli, previously it was Dieter Rams, who was a pioneer designer back then and a designer for Braun, which we are selling.
The theme of the curation is based on the different featured designers?
H For now that is the plan. But we will somehow try to curate some of other things as well, it may not be a designer, it may be a product or a brand in the future.
S But what we are going around is a modernist theme.
In an article, we read Aaron’s comment on people becoming more visual. As we are in the Instagram age, what do you guys think about this?
S Yeah. That’s why you don’t really see much deco, we try to keep it bare. Like you know (points to a table), [that’s] just a plant (laughs), and we’ve got a library there, it’s stocked with Monocle every month, we take the tips to buy the magazine so everyone gets to share good reading material.
A Yeah, that’s why we have a lot of books here, a lot of references, not just picture driven.
H Content.
A Yeah. Content is the one that creates the visuals, so I try not to provide any WiFi in the café. Well so far, Malaysians…
H … even if there’s no WiFi, people will bring their own WiFi (laughs).
A Yeah, so I would be very happy if people read.
Is it frustrating if customers came here to face their laptop and do work as they are now?
All Yeah, no! We like it.
S Yeah, the ‘club’ means gathering so that’s why it’s called Battery Acid Club. Battery acid is another term for espresso.
Why did you guys decide to open shop here? It’s quite secluded.
H Actually, there’s a lot of reasons. One of them is because one of our inspirations is from the modern era right? That era is normally from the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s… This shop lot was [constructed] in the early ‘80s or late ‘70s. It actually matches the whole concept and it’s a double storey [shop lot]. The other thing is that we wanted this to be in a matured area or neighbourhood, like DU and BU. We found this place to be full of potential.
S And also in a way, it’s less congested than Uptown – and of course, the rent here is a lot cheaper.
H And I would say people are looking for a place that’s more of a hide out, go to a place where’s it’s less stress[ful], special. So we offer that, in a way.
S Yeah, the cafes now no longer open in commercial areas. It’s more of a neighbourhood approach, we noticed. And it goes with the surrounding as well, like weekends you come here for coffee.
H And I know you guys are near as well, so that’s why we opened here (laughs).
The cafe is more of an event space, a communal space. What spurred you guys to make it that way?
H It’s more due to our interests.
S There are a lot of cafes blooming here and there, so in order to be outstanding, we have to play to our strength as we all came from creative backgrounds. That is why we put design up front.
H And what design is, it’s not only making good coffee, it’s also selling nice items. That’s where the retail [part] – Objekt—Object – comes in. It works in two ways; some people may want to come here for coffee, they would be like, “Eh, there’s a retail shop here.” So, they will check it out.
How is the response for Objekt—Object though?
H It’s picking up.
S Surprisingly, some people notice Objekt—Object first and when they smell the aroma of the coffee, they would go grab a cup. But now, we are focusing on hot meals for the café because we believe that food and drinks will drive people in.
On the subject of the coldness or the clinical interior of the café, though it is attractive, it’s different from the generic homeliness of cafes these days…
A A lot of people have the wrong idea, even if your interior is cold, it’s the people who add the warmth. I’m not worried, like, “Oh, you’re doing it in a cold way…” People come in, they talk, and it adds warmth. And the things displayed here, it brings up the ambience, I would say. Even one of my partners, he was [dubious] on the colour. I am not worried.
S We tried adding in wood into the interior but it just didn’t work, it seemed too forced. So we stuck to our original idea.