SINGAPORE — In the past year, Orchard Central received a much-needed shot in the arm when cool tenants such as Tanuki Raw, Dean & Deluca, Egg-cessorize, as well as Kilo at PACT entered the once-moribund mall. The hip quotient was given a further boost with funky furniture store Fred Lives Here joining PACT on the second level. And that’s just the start.

Its current 2,000 sq ft space at Orchard Central may be half the size of Fred’s previous residence at Emerald Hill, but owner Angie Pasley revealed there are actually more pieces on display here.

“The OC store is also very well mapped out, whereas the Emerald Hill store didn’t utilise the full space,” she explained. “We decided to go vertical and use a lot more of the wall space.”

The result is an ever-evolving space constantly updated with new additions or changes in displays. Homegrown graffiti artist Ceno2 also lent his genius to create an edgy, urban backdrop for the whimsical pieces and home accessories, including those from recently added brands such as Seletti from Italy and Ibride from France. Prices are pretty friendly too, starting from S$8 for a decorative charm, for example, while the pantone chairs for kids go for S$72, and a swoon-worthy sofa is priced at about S$3,000.

A website for customers to peruse and buy furniture is in the works (it is slated to be up in three weeks). Customers can also rent pieces they need for their apartments or events with Fred Rents, a service that recently provided the chairs for the pop-up restaurant, Four X 4.

The store at Orchard Central will be getting busier. Its food truck, Piping Hot Fred, arrives later this week and will be parked in the adjacent shop space to serve up some special dishes from the nearby Kilo and coffee from Nylon. Meanwhile, five other partners, including a bespoke perfumery and an art gallery, will be joining soon.

Pasley said this is all part of the plan to turn PACT into one big happy family occupying the 7,500 sq ft corner in the mall. “We’re going to remove all the glass panels so there’s more fluidity among the stores and customers can move freely from one place to another,” she said, adding that everything would be in by next January.

“Think of us as one big department store, but with cooler brands!” Serene Lim