Singapore - A bright neon sign in the newly opened Kate Spade Saturday store reads: Saturday is Magic.
Everything at Kate Spade Saturday, from the bright yellow shopfront to the merchandise with cute abstract and zig-zag prints, is full of optimism.
It is almost impossible to feel down in this store.
"We channel the feeling of the weekend sevendays a week. We're all about capturing that feeling of looking forward to the weekend," says MsTheresa Canning Zast, vice-president and divisional creative director of Kate Spade Saturday, the diffusion line of American brand Kate Spade New York.
Speaking to Urban at the launch of the store twoweeks ago, she says this is why new products are launched every Saturday, so customers have something to look forward to. These items could range from clothes to homeware.
One of its top-selling products, since launching in Japan and the United States in March, is the Weekender Bag.
The bag ($290) comes in various styles and two sizes. It features a zip compartment at the bottom of the bag for shoes and dirty laundry.
Ms Zast says when the bag sold out in the United States recently, the company received many enquiries from customers wanting to know when it would be restocked. The bag is now back in stock.
It is safe to say that with its brightly coloured products and use of prints, Kate Spade Saturday has much in common with its older sister Kate Spade New York. But in terms of pricing, the two could not be more different.
Ms Zast says: "The Kate Spade Saturday girl is just starting out and we wanted to provide products that are accessible, a little bit more straightforward and casual. Kate Spade New York, on the other hand, is a little more polished."
Explaining the profile of the two shoppers, she says the Kate Spade Saturday customer is aged 25 to 35, while the Kate Spade New York customer is 30 to 45.
Prices at Kate Spade Saturday range from $10 for adhesive tape to $470 for leather boots. Bags are priced between $110 and $400. In comparison, bags at Kate Spade New York cost at least 50 per cent more.
Ms Zast joined the Kate Spade company in 2007 and was the former director of creative marketing at Kate Spade New York.
The newly opened 1,334 sq ft store in Ion Orchard is one of only nine Kate Spade Saturday stores worldwide. Three are in the United States and the rest are in Japan. Another store in New York City will open at the end of the month.
She says the Kate Spade New York brand has a huge fan base in Asia, which is why the first Kate Spade Saturday stand-alone store was opened in Tokyo.
But she could not comment on how much Asia contributes to the Kate Spade brand's revenue of US$462million (S$572million) last year.
In the US, the brand launched with an online retail platform first, as most young women in the United States make purchases online.
Kate Spade Saturday is not one to stick with staid marketing techniques either. In June, the brand created four shoppable interactive store windows in vacant shops across New York City.
Shoppers could make purchases on huge touchscreen devices in the window. Ms Zast says shoppers here can expect similar innovative shopping experiences.
"We just want to do things that people have not done before," she adds.
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