After seven years providing bedding and furnishings solely on-line, Melbourne-born design label Eva has opened its very first retailer!
Based by husband and spouse duo Amanda Niu and Ken Lau, Eva is a B Corp licensed model recognized for making high quality, reasonably priced merchandise which might be thoughtfully designed for each consolation and simple use. It began in 2017 in a North Melbourne self-storage unit the place Ken and Amanda saved stock (and secretly used the power’s Wi-Fi)!
With their respective backgrounds in electrical engineering and medical neuropsychology, the couple quickly discovered a rhythm working collectively that allowed their enterprise to thrive — Ken now takes care of the operations and product facet of the corporate, whereas Amanda is in command of advertising and marketing and customer support.
‘I really like working with Ken on a regular basis,’ Amanda says. ‘We’re obsessive about good design, and Eva is a improbable outlet for us to make extra good design occur.’
Following the success of its inaugural product — the signature mattress-in-a-box — Eva continued to increase. Quickly, the model got here out with a spread of sheets and pillows, earlier than making a pivotal transfer and including the Timber Mattress Body and different furnishings to its stock. It additionally grew past simply Ken and Amanda, who now head up a staff of 20!
Bringing us ahead to in the present day, the pair have simply made their greatest transfer but — placing down everlasting bricks and mortar roots in Carlton after experimenting with numerous pop-up shops final 12 months.
The brand new Eva Carlton Home showroom is present in a heritage Victorian terrace dwelling, reflective of the model’s mission to ‘assist individuals really feel at dwelling’.
‘Giving our prospects the chance to expertise furnishings in a home-like surroundings bridges this hole for individuals who can’t fairly visualise how a product seems to be and feels at dwelling,’ Amanda explains.
‘It additionally helps present an area that we hope might encourage our prospects — Eva is a model for everybody so we wished this area to be an elevated expertise that folks can aspire to dwell in.’
Upon coming into the shop, you’ll really feel as if you’re strolling right into a pal’s cosy front room full of lovely furnishings and art work (together with these from Artbank, a authorities initiative supporting Australian artists). This leads right into a second dwelling area, full with a restored arch window that permits passers by to peek in from the skin!
Transferring by way of the showroom, Eva’s bed room furnishings and linen is displayed in two cosy bedrooms — one with an authentic fire which was uncovered by chance through the renovation course of! Your complete retailer really honours the interval dwelling it inhabits and evokes a way of belonging.
There’s nothing higher than feeling at dwelling, Amanda says. ‘We took this fairly actually for our first Eva retailer.’
Eva Carlton Home
186 Faraday Avenue
Carlton, VIC 3053
Wednesday to Friday 12-6pm
Saturday + Sunday 10am-6pm