Castlery, an online furniture brand, was found out of necessity as four friends experienced the painful process of shopping for home furnishings in Singapore. They came across inconsistent discounting practices, endured long and uncertain lead times, and questioned whether they were getting fair prices.
“Even as we attempted to navigate the process, our only options were to settle for furniture within our price range that was lacking in style, quality, and durability or pay high prices for high-end designer pieces. Though we were willing and eager to treat our purchases as investments, little was available between the two extremes. We felt a significant gap in the “sweet spot” of style, quality, and price. Hence, Castlery was born.” Explained Declan Ee, Castlery co-founder, during our interview.
Fast forward a decade in business and the young brand believes it is still in the early days. The pandemic accelerated the company’s growth from 60 to 400 employees with 7 offices around the world.
“We’ve spent the last decade constantly learning and building our expertise in product development, design, sourcing, logistics, and customer experience. We continue to invest in those areas. For example, we now have 6 distribution centers in the US to ensure reliable lead times for our customers,” Declan stated.
Castlery intentionally made their products available in the US about 5 years ago and the market has become nearly 80% of their business. Declan explained how the next phase of the company is about learning even more about their customers through additional in-depth customer surveys and research.
“Because of our findings we focused on increasing our outdoor selection this year, a category we know is important to Americans. We’ve also introduced a range of accessories including mirrors, rugs, and lighting. Most recently, we launched our Customization Program, which is very competitive with the category mainstays, and we’re very proud of the range and quality we offer.”
Taking the leap to do business outside of Singapore where the company is based was a big step for Casterly because of the inherent risk. In 2017, they opened a physical store in Australia and in 2019 expanded e-commerce in the US. In the same year they made the difficult decision to close their Sydney location to reinvest the resources into a global logistics team. The decision paid off as the investment proved to be invaluable during the supply chain shortages of Covid-19.
Suddenly, the pandemic of 2020 transformed what it meant to live and work from home. As lockdowns and social distancing became the norm, homes were no longer just dwellings but safe havens.
“People sought to create comfortable and functional spaces where they could work, relax, and socialize, leading to a surge in demand for furniture. This also impacted consumer behavior as people had no choice to but to buy online. So, this social change which would have normally taken 5-10 years to shift, happened in a matter of months.”
The road was not always linear for the team at Castlery. Their first forray in the Australian market proved to be challenging as their assortment of product may have overwhelmed some customers. They were also stretched as they opened a second store in Singapore at the same time. In fact, they weren’t profitable for three consecutive years.
The team learned valuable lessons from these experiences and when they opened their e-commerce store in the US they were more prepared than ever before.
“We started by putting the customer at the center of our decision-making. Instead of introducing our entire assortment all at once, we were very intentional in our market launch approach. We analyzed the market size and researched how our target customer lives. With this information, we decided to launch into the market with a smaller assortment of products across seven coastal cities.”
They took this customer-centric approach and scaled it across the organization globally among the markets they operate. In the early months, they became available to an additional city every week. By the end of 2021, they had covered the entire US.
Having an open mind has always been at the center of Declan’s core values at Castlery. That also means being open and flexible about the production process where there are opportunities to improve things.
“We constantly look at the data to inform our next steps, operating with a deep curiosity at every level. For example, we realized our customers wanted taller backrests. To solve this need, we launched an attachable headrest compatible with our existing sofa collections to offer customers the flexibility to achieve this without needing to replace their entire sofa.”
From my experience, what makes Castlery unique is that they design high quality and stunningly beautiful furniture at an affordable price. Surely it’s an investment but it’s made to last for years to come. What I love about the Theo Round Dining Table is that it reminds of me the glass, circular table we garhtered around for dinner as a child. Except, rather than clear glass it has a white glass top that is pleasing to the eye and reflects light quite beautifully. It’s also incredibly easy to clean.
“We are unwilling to sacrifice beautiful design or quality materials to achieve a reasonable and accessible price. Pursuing this mission with a transparent and reliable ordering process allows us to stand apart from our competitors.”
Castlery’s approach to design starts with solving real-life problems for their customers. Whether it’s mid-century modern, post-modern, or rustic charm, these styles have influenced their designs as they’ve expanded collections. While they’ve prioritized performance materials and quality construction to ensuring durability — texture, color, and modularity have been at the center of their design approach.
“Performance bouclé is a staple for many of our upholstery collections, while marble, travertine, brushed oak, and fluted lines play essential roles in our case goods category. Other times, color makes all the difference. Our Bruno table collection, with a sleek high-gloss lacquer, stands out in a deep and impactful Russet finish. The Marlow Curve Sofa, while modern in design, delivers sophistication in the Ginger colorway. We have a dedicated team whose sole focus is colors, materials, and finishes; and nailing the perfect combination that will appeal to our customer base.
Beyond aesthetics, our designs prioritize our customers by offering flexibility and modularity. How can we adapt this design to give the highest number of people the best experience? It’s important to us that anyone living in a tight space doesn’t have to sacrifice the look and feel of their home. Beautiful interiors are not space-dependent; we know this well living in land-scarce Singapore. Our latest campaign, “Live Large in Small Spaces,” is a passion point of mine, as I fundamentally believe any size space can benefit from thoughtful, mindful design.”
While the Castlery team is hard at work to make luxury living attainable, Declan is reminded by some of the heartwarming storiess customers have shared.
One early purchaser Declan met was a newlywed couple who bought a Seb sideboard. He bumped into him recently and shared that it was one of the first pieces he bought to furnish his home. They are big entertainers, and the sideboard used to house his boardgame collection for game nights. Now, however, it’s transitioned into holding mementos of his toddlers.
“A second story that comes to mind is when we did a demonstration video on Instagram to highlight the spill-resistance of our Marlow sofa. One commenter wrote in saying they could vouch for this as their kid peed on it. All these stories whether heartfelt or comedic are so rewarding as it tells us the products we craft are part of creating memories for that family.”
While still a young company, Declan’s proudest achievement to date has been opening their 24,000 square foot flagship store in Singapore in 2022. It’s the only furniture brand with street side frontage in the heart of Orchard Road (akin to Rodeo Drive).
“As a millennial, it brought me immense pride to open my store in Liat Towers, a mall steeped in cultural significance as the trendy hotspot for local hipsters back in the day. I’m proud of our team’s efforts hustling to get the space ready in a few short months.”
As we concluded our interview, I solicited Declan for sage career advice.
“You cannot control the outcome you want, but you can control how you live every day to get closer to that outcome. Shift your idea of success to focus on making small improvements and living your best life every day. Each day will take you closer or further from your goal.
There’s also a huge amount of success that comes down to luck. Luck is something like the wind. You can’t control it, but you can build a sail to catch it when it comes.”