SINGAPORE: For decades, Tan Boon Liat Building has been where furniture retailers did something unusual: they sent customers to one another.If a shop did not have what a customer was looking for, it would direct them to a neighbouring retailer most likely to have it.Tenants at the furniture and home decor hub also organised block parties and created a directory to help customers navigate the 15-storey building on Outram Road - a rare initiative in a competitive industry.When news of the building's S$950 million (US$756 million) en bloc sale to Kingsford Group emerged on Tuesday (Jul 21) morning, some tenants took to a WhatsApp chat group to discuss their next moves, with a collective move mooted as a possibility."My first port of call would be to band the community together and try to see whether we can do something together," said Mr Saurabh Mangla, who owns Ipse Ipsa Ipsum, a bespoke furniture brand that also provides interior design services. "If we can find a way to house people together, even if it's not the whole ecosystem but some parts of it, then slowly, it (may) build over time."
Mr Saurabh Mangla, owner of Ipse Ipsa Ipsum, at his store in Tan Boon Liat's building on Jul 21, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
