Design Thinking

Wisdom, humility and a whole lot of gratitude — these themes become apparent as Xtra managing director Lim Choon Hong reflects on the premium design business’s journey over the last 30 years, and opines about the future of the furniture industry.

- Zara Zhuang

Honestly, I think what we’ve done in the last 30 years is no big deal,” Mr. Lim Choon Hong says with a laugh. “We’re just a business that’s been able to stay sustainable and we’ve grown slowly.

“It’s not as if it happened yesterday, so I think what we’ve been able to achieve is nothing major or fantastic.”

Those are modest words indeed, especially considering Mr. Lim is speaking of Xtra, the premium multi-label design and furnishing business he founded, a 13,000-sqft behemoth that has occupied pride of place at Marina Square since early 2017. International brands such as Magis, Tom Dixon, Moroso call it home in Singapore, and the company has carried Herman Miller pieces and products locally for two decades. Prior to its recent move, Xtra spent more than 20 years in Park Mall, where its retail space grew from 2,000sqft to 23,000sqft.

The current emporium is a far cry from its unpretentious origins: Xtra started out in 1989 as an alternative eclectic design store in a pre-war shophouse on Tanjong Katong Road. “I don’t think we ever had such a conscious thought about why we did it,” Mr. Lim says about how the business was born. “We started off pretty naïve: We didn’t know what to expect in the business or what kind of pitfalls to look out for. Probably there was an innate desire to have a store and surround myself with beautiful things.

“In hindsight, I think some things work out better because you’re naïve and not aware. If you’re aware of too many things, chances are you wouldn’t have gone into it,” the 61-year-old adds with a chuckle.