Booktique's 10 year-history in picture. (2013 - 2023)
2013 - 2018
We first started in 2013 with a luggage of books at cafes. As we were unknown then, we faced rejections from some café owners. Cafe Pralet by Chef Judy Koh was the first café to host our book fair, followed by Working Titles.
We were the first to host a book fair at The Armenian Church. But it almost didn't happen...
Our email to the Church was not responded to for a week. As it is no longer a worship place, we reckoned nobody worked there. So I printed our email and brought it with me to the Church, hoping to meet a caretaker. But nobody was in the chapel. The house next to it said "no trespassing". I shouted "hello" but nobody answered.
"Am I going to give up just like that?" I asked myself as I sat on a bench in the chapel. Then, I saw a tealight candle glowing in front of me. I got up and saw a donation box next to it. "Surely, somebody would come and collect the money?" So I took out $2, bought a postcard and dropped the note with my email into the donation box. Two days later, I received a reply. 
We used to sell books by the roadside at Serangoon Park near the Little Free Library. It sounded like a crazy idea but residents came to buy books.
Our first pop up store at The Cathay from May - Aug 2014. All the display units were made out of cardboard boxes and sheets. At the end of the pop up, we used the boxes to store our unsold books. We were called a "cute, little bookshop" and "quaint and cosy, minimalistic greenhouse".
MP Baey Yam Keng celebrating with Booktique at the opening of our pop up store.
Our second pop up at City Link Mall from Oct 2014 - May 2015. The space was doubled of that at The Cathay and it had a backroom that we used to host events and workshops. This time, we used pallets to create shelves and even a stage! Our shop had more space (both for walking and thinking) than bookshelves.
"A hidden gem smack in the town. Well...Not really "hidden" as you can't possibly walk by without noticing it for the different aura this lovely place gives out. " A FB review |
In July 2015, we converted our 6-month pop up at City Link Mall into a 2 -year permanent store. It closed down in June 2017.
We hosted a pop up play reading in our store. No other bookshops had ever done this before.
The Chairman of Chou Sing Chu Foundation and Group CEO of Popular Holdings Limited , Chou Cheng Ngok visited Booktique. Never had I expected to meet Mr Chou one day. I used to work part time at Popular Marine Parade when I was 16.
Mr Chou invited me to contribute my life-changing story to their corporate magazine Popular News. Coincidentally, the new issue came out just in time for their 5th year anniversary. "It is people like you who make the book business interesting. With your effort and commitment, I should not regret my 53 years in this business." Mr Chou wrote me this from his Hong Kong office. 
Our first big scale book fair at Drama Box 25th Anniversary . Over the years, we had participated in various literary events like Verve, Words Go Round, Singapore Poetry Festival, and BuySingLit, etc
School book fairs in our early days were mostly at tertiary institutions. It was only after 2017 that we started visiting primary and secondary schools as well as international schools. Now, we also sell books to school libraries via MOE e-vendor.
An unforgettable pop up at the Vienna Boys Choir in Singapore Concert.
We didn't think that a bank would want a book fair at their office. But then this happened.
Thanks to the invite by Campus Party Singapore, we were able to sell books at Singapore Expo.
Our longest running pop up that spanned 3 weeks. This was at The Arts House during National Day in 2018.
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We designed this zig zag bookshelf for our BuySingLit Pop Up at MapleTree Business City. It stopped traffic.
2019 - 2023
Our first pop up at The Projector and definitely not our last. We will be back again for their Women Make Films Festival on 25 & 26 March and 1st and 2nd April at The Cathay cinema.
Our first book fair in a furniture showroom. Thanks to Journey East . This is the most expensive table we had ever displayed our books on. It cost over $2000.
During the pandemic, our book fairs were either cancelled or postponed. This one didn't happen so I decided to host the book fair at home. It would be a pity if we were to keep the books in the boxes.
In 2020, we created a lifestyle brand called Chio Books. Our first pop up store was at City Gate from December 2020 to February 2021. Follow us on Instagram.
Our first time in a flea market at Katong Square. We were selling books together with City Book Room, our long-time bookselling partner.
Chio Books' first pop up event at the Alex Blake Charlie session. It is a week-long music festival happening at Pasir Panjang Power Station. We were selling books in a clubbing ambience with pulsating music.
Another first for us: a three day pop up alongside a play staged at Drama Centre Black Box.
We hope we can be your bookseller for a long, long time. Make our 10th anniversary count with your continuous support throughout the year.
We are looking for these growth opportunities: Book fairs at events or in schools. Sale of books to school libraries (we are a registered e-vendor with MOE). Pre order of books from our online catalogues |
