On April 20 last year, the popular nightclub Zouk Singapore reopened in Clarke Quay to much fanfare. All 500 tickets were sold out on a typical Wednesday night. It was an encouraging sign that things were looking up after many industries, including nightlife, had been decimated during the pandemic. Singapore’s multi-ministry task force ordered the closure of bars, cinemas, and entertainment outlets from March 26, 2020. It had taken two years for the nightlife industry, including bars and discotheques, to reopen.
Zouk’s reopening this year introduced a new generation of clubbers to the legendary club founded in 1991. Before the pandemic, it could host up to 2,000 people.
Last year, Zouk Group CEO Andrew Li emphasised the club’s commitment to guest safety as the “utmost priority” while expressing enthusiasm to restart the party. As he told The Edge Singapore last year: “We will be bringing in top-tier international DJs and dynamic club nights.” ZoukOut, the group’s popular large-scale outdoor event first held in 2000, returned in December 2022 after a three-year hiatus, featuring DJs Tiesto and Armin van Buuren as headline acts.
Last year, Zouk experienced a “bumper year” due to pent-up demand. The pandemic’s impact led to numerous closures, resulting in reduced competition for the club. “When you monopolise the market like that and people haven’t been going out for two years, you can imagine the money they were spending. The club will probably never see that type of profitability again,” Li tells The Edge Singapore in an interview in June.
Lower operational costs were also a factor behind the bumper year, as Zouk operated with a leaner team. Li adds: “Manpower was an issue initially because people hadn’t returned. A lot of people who were working [in the industry] in the past didn’t want to work [the same jobs] again because they wanted to develop new skill sets.”
With Singaporeans travelling out of the country this year, Li says the club has “levelled off” from last year, although revenues are higher than FY2019 figures. “Because so many places have opened up in the last six months, there’s no way we can maintain the market share we had last year.”
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Despite the challenges, Li predicts steady earnings this year. Singapore’s growing allure as a tourist and concert hotspot, including events like the Formula 1 (F1) Night Races in September, contributes to this expectation.
It is not just the club seeing a tapering off in earnings. Zouk Group’s F&B business — especially its high-end restaurants — also sees fewer customers due to the travel recovery. “At one point, you couldn’t get a reservation at Sushi Ichizuke, the omakase restaurant which we opened during Covid-19, for six months,” Li recalls, adding that diners were willing to spend $500 on a meal, which is what an omakase meal in Japan would have cost.
“Now, you’ll see a lot more availability because a lot of these high-end consumers can travel,” he adds, noting that consumers should now be able to get bookings at most omakase restaurants in Singapore within a week.
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Despite its small scale, the local nightlife industry attracts significant spending. “The top 2% to 3% are still spending in the clubs. I believe there’s a lot more immigration into Singapore, of people with very high disposable income, as you can see from [property] rents and car COEs,” Li adds. “I believe that nightlife still has a part to play.”
As one of the major clubbing brands in Singapore, Li remains unfazed about losing market share, saying: “People with huge disposable income would still need to go out and entertain clients.” The group’s development plans include a multi million-dollar revamp of the current Clarke Quay premises next year, which aims to reopen in the first quarter of 2024 after six to eight weeks of renovations. Zouk relocated to Clarke Quay in December 2016, having been at Jiak Kim Street since its inception.
“With the renovation next year, we can command an even larger market share,” says Li. Zouk’s revamp aligns perfectly with CQ @ Clarke Quay’s asset enhancement initiative by CapitaLand. The transformation will create a vibrant day-and-night destination featuring refreshed dining areas, community spaces, and more.
“Our renovation should hopefully be fully completed when theirs is completed. The hoarding should be down in time for the F1 night races. So that’s when they can put on this whole experience and create an even stronger tourist destination for Singapore, which we will [work with] hand-in-hand because we’re the largest tenant here in Clarke Quay,” Li adds.
Expansion plans
Zouk — present in Singapore, Malaysia, and Las Vegas — aims to expand to Tokyo and Los Angeles. With a brand established over 30 years ago in Singapore and Malaysia, it entered the American market through Zouk Las Vegas in partnership with Resorts World Las Vegas in 2021.
In Tokyo, the group has partnered with the Japanese group Belluna to establish the country’s first dedicated entertainment lifestyle building. The collaboration will present an all-encompassing hospitality ecosystem with various entertainment options at the 13-storey Granbell Square building in the upscale Ginza district. It will feature a boutique hotel, spa and sauna, restaurants, karaoke rooms, and a multi-floor club helmed by Zouk. Zouk Tokyo is set to open towards the end of this year.
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In Los Angeles, the group will take over the nightclub Nightingale on La Cienega in West Hollywood. Done in partnership with lifestyle hospitality group SBE, the 6,500 sq ft space is set to open in early 2024.
When the group was seeking cities to expand its nightlife segment, it looked for “destination, gateway cities”, says Li. “For us, Tokyo and Los Angeles both meet that objective, Tokyo being a place with a huge influx of foreign travellers. It’s just a very exciting city for Singaporeans and [for] people worldwide.” He adds: “[Tokyo] is also a place where the nightlife [business] hasn’t been very largely penetrated … In terms of international brands, we are the largest one coming into that market now.”
Los Angeles is another strategic market for the group, as many who visit its Las Vegas club come from California. “There’s a lot of synergies between the two different markets. This means we can share our DJs and ensure that any marketing campaign is focused on the West Coast,” he says, even though that both venues will look very different.
“[The club in Tokyo] is a completely brand new space, and what makes it interesting is that we’re able to custom-make a nightlife destination as opposed to other clubs where we could only remodel the same existing space. So, we’re very excited for Tokyo because we have a mezzanine and a high ceiling, allowing us to be innovative in terms of the lighting effects we can develop.”
One main feature that stands out in a Zouk club is its “mothership”, a lighting fixture in the middle of the dance floor. The fixture is present in different iterations across the group’s clubs. In Los Angeles, party-goers can also look forward to an Interior that looks like the set from The Great Gatsby movie, which pays tribute to the history and culture in West Hollywood, adds Li.
Beyond Tokyo and Los Angeles, the group is mulling over other markets such as the Middle East, Miami, or Ibiza. “[The openings] need to make a huge impact. For example, you wouldn’t see us opening in a sleepy town because the resources needed to develop and conceptualise a club is a lot more than if you were just to do a small restaurant.”
While the group is running its nightlife business, Li says that he and the group’s executive chairman, Hui Lim, are prioritising expanding the F&B brands under its belt. These include the RedTail Bar by Zouk, speakeasy and cocktail lounge Here Kitty Kitty, Fuhu Restaurant and Bar, Sushi Ichizuke, American burger joint Five Guys and its food street in Las Vegas.
Singapore brand
“Because the association of nightlife and Zouk is so strong in Singapore, I can be talking about F&B for five years, and people will still think that we’re just a club,” he says. “Fortunately or unfortunately, our nightlife is still strong, but that’s where the opportunities come out. As Hui and I want to grow the ecosystem that we have within the group, it makes more sense for us to see how we can develop that food aspect. For us, it’s important to have a portfolio that can create a much longer consumer journey as opposed to just the nightlife part.”
Li has bigger dreams, stating that the “real end-journey” would be a 24-hour experience which would “probably end at a Zouk-themed hotel”, which the group is also looking into. Regarding a public listing, Li says although the group has not deliberated on it collectively, he and Lim have discussed it. “The Hong Kong and the New York equity markets are a lot more traded as those two markets are renowned. I think that makes a big difference in share price,” he adds.
“In my eyes, Zouk is a Singapore brand. If you were to list here, you would probably have a lot of support from local investors. I think there are a lot of things to consider. There is no definite timeline, but we know there are pros and cons.”
