Mindee Ong's favourite spot is in a TROLLEY.

Relaxing with her real 'baby'StartFragment

Article from TNPBy Shea John Driscoll

MINDEE Ong's favourite spot is in a trolley.



Her shop, Trolley, to be exact. The cheery actress, who starred in director Royston Tan's hit getai movies 881 and 12 Lotus, opened Trolley in September last year.



The shop, located at Amoy Street, carries an eclectic range of home and personal accessories, along with a quirky line-up of furniture, including CD racks inspired by the iconic Tetris blocks, and even counts the royal family of Brunei among its customers.



But the most personal items in Trolley are the ones she designed herself, which include a range of sidetables created in a diamond motif.

Her flair for design isn't just limited to furniture.



Mindee, who is the ambassador for local brand, Sembonia, will be launching her first range of designs in Sembonia's upcoming Spring/Summer Collection 2009.

The New Paper sat down with her to find out why she calls her shop 'my baby'.



Why is your shop your favourite spot?



Well, Trolley is really my interest. Everything in here is handpicked by either my partners or myself and they're all things that we like.



Most of the products have their own story, and I even had to fight to bring in some of the items, but I can't show them off now because they're sold out.



So I always feel very comfortable when I come to Trolley. If I'm in a foul mood, coming here is always a relief somehow, but I'm not sure if it's the designs that are talking to me or it's the shop rather than the products.



How does the shop inspire you?



It gives me the drive to bring in more unique items.



For example, our next range will have eco-friendly products where the designers actually use recycled materials.

Every time I come into the shop, there are so many things that I want to do, to design. I even want to make the shop bigger so that I can bring in more products.



Would you say that your hard work has been worth it?



 When we started, there were only empty shelves and paintings, so people walked past and thought it was an art gallery and didn't even come in.



 But I'm happy to see that the shop is up and running and my staff are manning it very well, but most importantly, customers have been very supportive.



 They like the items that we pick, and I'm happy that people are trolleying stuff out of the shop.



How do you find these new items to bring in?



We actually bring in products from different countries.



Overseas designers are becoming aware of us through word of mouth, so they tell their friends and budding artists, who e-mail me. Some of them even approach me when they come to Singapore.



How are you balancing running the shop with your other showbiz commitments?



When I'm on a shoot, I honestly can't make it down here all the time, so I trust my staff and depend on my other partners to help me compensate.



What do you find most rewarding about running your shop?

There are even people who don't buy anything, but before they leave they tell me thanks for bringing in such wonderful products, and I really feel great when people appreciate the shop like that.

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