Special Feature
Hafary launches Hafary House, expands upstream and taps the luxury home market
/ Hafary Holdings |
Eric Low of Hafary Holdings: A gallery like this is a one-stop shop that provides convenience for our customers (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
It’s not just luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Prada and Richard Mille are opening bigger and bolder flagship stores to create unique experiences for their clients. Eric Low, the director of building materials supplier Hafary Holdings, is taking a similar approach with the launch of Hafary House.
The new sales gallery soft opened on Dec 1, 2024, and was officially opened on Jan 11. The gallery, built at a cost of $3 million, is located at 161 Lavender Street, a building comprising 11 adjoining conservation shophouses that Hafary acquired for $71.28 million in July 2022. The gallery occupies 15,000 sq ft across two floors.
“Our goal was to create a distinctive showroom that redefines how we showcase our extensive range of tiles, natural stones and wood surfacing products,” says Eric. “We wanted to make the experience more engaging, immersive and interactive for our consumers.”
Hafary House is designed to represent the interiors of a home, including the living and dining rooms, outdoor spaces, foyer, wardrobe, kitchen and bathroom (Photo: Finbarr Fallon)
‘One-stop shop’
Hafary’s catalogue boasts over 9,400 types of porcelain tiles, nearly 650 varieties of natural stones — including precious stones like amethyst and jasper — and over 100 styles of countertops.
In addition to displaying its range of tiles and surfacing materials, Hafary House features dedicated showrooms for the company’s complementary businesses.
One of these is its subsidiary, Wood Culture, which offers more than 50 varieties of solid wood and over 150 categories of engineered wood and vinyl. It also offers Ecoclay, an innovative wall panelling material versatile enough to create a variety of textures.
The gallery also marks the debut of Hafary Bathroom, which offers a premium selection of sanitary ware from European brands such as Zucchetti and Bernstein, as well as its newly launched in-house brand, Klopfen.
“A gallery like this is a one-stop shop that provides convenience for our customers,” adds Eric. “At a glance, they can see all the materials they need for their home and ensure their walls complement their flooring and wood finishes. It gives them the confidence and comfort to make the right choices for their home.”
The newly opened Hafary House at 161 Lavender Street after a $3 million refurbishment (Photo: Finbarr Fallon)
Tapping into the area’s industrial legacy
Lavender Street is located within the Jalan Besar Conservation Area, a district that has retained much of its industrial heritage. From the 1920s to the 1950s, it attracted pioneering businessmen, including Singaporean philanthropist Lee Kong Chian, who established the Lee Rubber Company at 161 Lavender Street. The block of Art Deco-style shophouses was built in 1930.
In the 1990s, Lee Rubber added a four-storey rear extension while restoring and conserving the façade of the shophouses. The property won a URA Architectural Heritage Award in 1995 for its sensitive integration of old and new elements. After acquiring 161 Lavender Street from Lee Rubber 2½ years ago, Hafary refurbished it extensively.
In addition to Hafary House, the building features F&B and other commercial units on the first floor, with co-living spaces managed by The Assembly Place on the upper floors.
To create an inspiring sales gallery that blends flair with nostalgia, Eric enlisted the expertise of Farm, a multidisciplinary studio specialising in branding and spatial design, including sales galleries, show suites and exhibitions.
On the Jalan Besar Conservation Area, the co-founder and director of Farm, Selwyn Low, says: “There is a sense of exploration — a raw energy in the area. It’s the perfect setting to showcase Hafary’s materials and inspire buyers to imagine how these materials could transform their spaces.”
Ecoclay, an innovative wall panelling material versatile enough to create a variety of textures, was launched in Hafary House (Photo: Finbbar Fallon)
Versatility of materials
Farm demonstrates various ways tiles can be used throughout the gallery, showcasing their versatility through different forms and treatments. For instance, the entrance wall features sandblasted tiles, creating a textured relief, while the reception area displays stacked tiles to highlight their side profiles. These applications inspire visitors to reimagine the possibilities of tile design in their own spaces.
“With social media, almost every homeowner has become a designer,” says Selwyn. “While they often know what they want, they still need a space to learn about the construction process and understand how different materials can work together.”
Befitting its name, Hafary House is designed to represent the interiors of a home, including the living and dining rooms, outdoor spaces, foyer, wardrobe, kitchen and bathroom.
These showcases act as vignettes with revolving themes, each catering to different lifestyles and demonstrating the varied uses of the tiles. “Many elements, such as furniture, wall art and even some lighting, are crafted using tiles from Hafary,” Selwyn adds. “Our goal is to inspire visitors to envision how these spaces could translate into their homes.”
Selwyn Low of Farm: There is a sense of exploration — a raw energy in the [Jalan Besar] area. It’s the perfect setting to showcase Hafary’s materials and inspire buyers to imagine how these materials could transform their spaces (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
From a tile shop to a market leader
Over the past 45 years, Hafary has evolved from its humble beginnings as a single shophouse in Balestier selling ceramic tiles. The company was founded by Eric’s father, Low Kok Ann, who currently serves as Hafary’s CEO and executive director.
Listed on the Singapore Exchange in 2009, Hafary has since secured a 50% to 60% market share in the general consumer market. The firm also boasts the largest collection of surfacing materials in Singapore. Its 562,000 sq ft warehousing space allows Hafary to maintain its substantial inventory and efficiently support customer needs.
In addition to Hafary House, the company operates three other showrooms across Singapore. These include a showroom in Tradehub 21 in Jurong and the Stone Gallery by Hafary at Sungei Kadut, which showcases natural stones from renowned Italian brands such as Antolini, Salvatori and Pietra Antiqua.
The third and largest facility is Hafary Gallery, a 40,000 sq ft flagship store in Paya Lebar, which was refurbished two years ago. It is part of the Hafary Centre, which includes the corporate headquarters.
Hafary House's display of kitchen tiles and stone finishing (Photo: Finbarr Fallon)
Growth and expansion
In November 2024, Hafary emerged as the big winner in the cyclical consumer products sector at The Edge Singapore Centurion Club Awards. The company was named the overall sector winner, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.7% and a weighted return on equity (ROE) of 32.2% over the three years under consideration.
For the fiscal year 2023, which ended in December 2023, Hafary reported earnings of $40.1 million, a 30.9% y-o-y increase. Revenue for the same period rose by 34.1% to $226.4 million.
In December 2022, Hafary expanded its operations to include manufacturing capabilities by forming the International Ceramics Manufacturing Hub. It is a joint venture with Guangdong ITA Element Building Materials Co. Ltd and CNA Pte Ltd, a premium tile manufacturer, enabling Hafary to “move upstream” and address supply constraints more effectively.
The gallery marks the debut of Hafary Bathroom (Photo: Finbarr Fallon)
The group can also leverage the MML brand, owned by its major shareholder, Hap Seng Consolidated, alongside Hap Seng’s extensive distribution network to drive sales growth in Malaysia and across the regional export market.
In addition, Hafary has established a research and development division in Malaysia to innovate and create new tile designs. “We introduced large-format tiles to the market, and they turned out to be a huge success,” says Eric.
The Malaysian manufacturing plant boasts a production capacity of 1.3 million sq m (close to 14 million sq ft) of tiles per month, or 15 million sq m (161.46 million sq ft) annually. “We are the largest producer in Malaysia right now,” Eric notes. “About 50% of our production is dedicated to the domestic market, while the remaining 50% is exported.”
Today, Hafary employs 700 people in Malaysia and another 450 in Singapore. In 2011, the company expanded into Vietnam by incorporating Hafary Vietnam and acquiring a 49% stake in Viet Ceramics International Joint Stock Company, which is now an associate company. Malaysia is now the second-largest market after Singapore, followed by Vietnam.
Hafary is the exclusive distributor of Antolini, a renowned Italian brand known for its premium natural stones (Photo: Finbarr Fallon)
The trend of luxury property owners with bigger budgets
In Singapore, the prices of landed properties, particularly ultra-luxurious Good Class Bungalows (GCBs), have surged dramatically. In 2024, a new GCB at Tanglin Hill fetched $93.889 million, setting a new record price of $6,017 psf.
Eric notes that the demand for high-end materials has similarly grown among owners of GCBs and other luxury homes. “These days, owners of GCBs and other high-end landed houses are willing to pay more for premium-quality products. The trend benefits our business, closely tied to the property market.”
Eric highlights Antolini, a renowned Italian brand known for its premium natural stones and recognised as the world’s largest supplier in this category. Hafary is the exclusive distributor of Antolini products in Singapore. At the pinnacle of its offerings are precious stones, with some costing up to US$40,000 ($54,875) per slab.
Hafary House carries a wide range of sanitary ware and fittings (Photo: Finbarr Fallon)
A good time to re-enter property development?
Eric’s understanding of the property market is bolstered by his role as the co-founder and deputy CEO of Singapore-listed property group Oxley Holdings. Oxley is the developer of notable projects such as the mixed-use development 1953 at Tessensohn Road and large-scale projects like the 1,052-unit Affinity at Serangoon and the 1,472-unit Riverfront Residences.
Internationally, Oxley is behind London’s Royal Wharf waterfront development, featuring 3,400 apartments, 15,000 sq m of office space and 5,000 sq m of retail and F&B areas. Oxley is also developing Riverscape, located on the edge of the River Thames, which will include 769 residential units and 1,125 sq m of retail space.
“We are eager to buy land and embark on more developments,” says Eric, pointing to the “fantastic sales” achieved at recent launches as a sign that the Singapore residential market has “come back to life”.
Still, he remains cautious about the potential impact of cooling measures, even as he believes it is “perfect timing to re-enter the market next year to buy land and embark on new developments”.
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