New Zouk gearing up for F1 party season
Kuala Lumpur
ZOUK Singapore doesn't plan to let renovations at its new Clarke Quay premises stand in the way of cashing in on the F1 fun.
The city-state's best-known party club aims to launch its new F&B concept room by August, in time for the Singapore Grand Prix which begins on Sept 16.
It is targeting to open the rest of the club by December, according to Genting Hong Kong (GHK) executive director and chief information officer Lim Keong Hui.
Zouk's F&B room, Red Tail, is one of two fresh concepts that the management is introducing at the new 30,000 square foot club in Clarke Quay.
Capital is the other new room, and set to be "more bottle service" while Phuture and Zouk will remain as before.
"Red Tail will be a place where people can meet before the club, where they can get craft cocktails, craft drinks and high- end finger food. It's not a sit- down concept, but where they can meet friends," Mr Lim said.
As the club's new owner - and reopening in a new location after 25 years - GHK knows the weight of expectations from Zouk Singapore's many supporters.
GHK acquired the company last year for an undisclosed amount. Because the club needed to be relocated from Jiak Kim Street, there was an opportunity to rebuild the club from the ground up, Mr Lim said - from the millennials' perspective.
But he assured current fans that they would not be forgotten.
"We are basically building new products for them because the current product is 25 years old," he said.
He acknowledged that Zouk's previous owner Lincoln Cheng could have expanded into the region as there had been offers, but chose to focus on ensuring the quality of the music and club experience at Zouk Singapore. Depending on what's on offer, the club attracts 2,000-2,500 guests on weekends, and about 1,500 on weekdays.
"I guess it was the right decision . . . How many clubs in the world do you know that can run for 25 years? If you look at Singapore, the life cycle is about five years. So management must be doing something right," said Mr Lim.
His focus is to ensure that new team members complement existing ones. Since many of them are under 40 like himself, they are likely to understand the market better, he added.
Mr Lim said the core team of 40 is being groomed to explore projects around the world - be it in other international cities or under the Genting group - so that they can negotiate management contract deals or joint ventures.
READ MORE: Hotel Zouk on the cards as Genting unveils big plans
