With aquamarine and white as the major hues and adorned with climbing plants, mush.Room is a softly lighted boutique located in a quiet community away from the crowds. But on a weekend in February, this store, which is less than a thousand square feet in size, was jam-packed with people coming especially for a market bazaar that is held irregularly. “I have never seen that my shop is so packed. At the beginning I worried that nobody would come here,” Sony Cheong recalled with a smile.
Cheong and her husband Faye Choi, a musician, founded mush.Room in 2009. The shop mainly sells fashion and accessories from Japan, Korea and other parts of the world. Some of the items are designed by themselves. Five years ago, the store was moved from another location to here, and the rear area of the store has become the studio of Evade, Choi’s electro band. The store name “Room” says it all: this cute couple wants to provide visitors with a space to chill. “We put all good things together in one room for everyone to share.” Holding a market bazaar has always been one of their ideas, but they were not able to find a right place to do it.
But the situation changed last year when a Japanese filmmaker asked to film a performance by Evade. With no suitable place to perform, they simply transformed their own store to a mini-concert venue. They removed all clothes in the store to make space for the concert. “After the event, we found out that it’s possible to hold a bazaar in our store once we remove all items. In this way we do not need to hire another venue and we can take control of the entire process.” Choi pointed out that because the store is small, maximising the usage of the space is needed during the time when the bazaar is held. Hooks and wall racks are used for providing more space for storage and exhibition.
When venue was no longer a problem, the couple started coming up with the content of the “mush.Room Mini-Market”. First of all, the market needed a theme. Then they had to look for like-minded brands in Macao and overseas to participate. For instances, the first edition of the mini-market held in February was a collaboration with Girl’z, a Taiwanese group specialising in girls’ items. A series of dreamy and girlie items were selected to showcase in Macao. In April, the theme of the second edition of the market was nostalgia. It was a collaboration with both brands in Macao and Hong Kong. On the market day, live music was performed. Since the store is also the studio of Choi’s band, there is a complete set of audio equipment in-store. The couple also played music and sang on the spot.
“[Holding a market bazaar] is like organising a party. We’ve got a lot of themes for the upcoming markets, and we have to think out of the box,” Cheong said. Choi supplemented: “We do not compromise quality. We hope that each market will bring new elements to everyone. We do not hold the market on a monthly basis because we will only do it if we have a good theme for it.” Organising an event is both physically and mentally demanding. This is also one of the reasons why they cannot afford doing it regularly. Usually the theme and partners have to be confirmed two months in advance. The making of promotional materials also takes time. On the eve of the market day, the store has to be tidied up. Sometimes, accommodation has to be arranged for vendors coming from overseas. Together with the day-to-day management of the store, all of these have become heavy workloads.
But the audiences’ recognition to the couple’s hard work has given them confidence to continue to hold the event. Choi said that promotional channels in Macao are very limited. Apart from advertising in social media, they also stick posters to cafés they have close links with. “We rely on word-of-mouth advertising. What we are doing is very niche. We did worry if no one would be interested in it. But we have held the event several times and the responses were good. A lot of people told us to do it more often.” Cheong supplemented that they organise market bazaar is not for the sake of making money. Vendors are not required to pay rents. “We understand that handmaking is no easy task.” Choi further explained: “The event is experimental and indie in style. It’s because we love fun.”
During the interview the couple showed tacit support to each other, and they have performed perfect teamwork when it comes to the business. “I have a lot of funny ideas. I often told her not to question because when my mind is clear I will share my thoughts with her. And she will help me out to walk the talk,” said Choi. Regarding to what her husband said, Cheong agreed with a smile: “I simply follow what he says.”
Regarding the future plan, Cheong expects to find a place that is bigger in size so as to allow them more space to organise market bazaars, concerts and even provide food and beverage. Running a venue like a Japanese-styled live house is what they have in mind now. “I found that there are no places to go during holidays in Macao. I very much want to have a place in the city where you can spend the whole day to enjoy good food and bazaar hopping.” Her husband concluded: “Our aim is to promote Macao’s cultural industry and to make the city more fun.”
