CHAGEE turns back the clock with a modern twist on Chinatown teahouses
The modern tea brand launches Pagoda House to revive community-centric tea culture
CHAGEE Singapore just introduced its most ambitious concept to date: Pagoda House, a retail-meets-teahouse flagship located on Pagoda Street in Chinatown.
This new space isn’t just a place to grab a cup of tea. It’s a full-sensory experience designed to reconnect people with community, tradition, and the evolving lifestyle of tea lovers.
This article explores how CHAGEE’s Pagoda House blends heritage with contemporary retail strategy, what it signals for experiential marketing, and why this shift matters for brands aiming to anchor themselves in culture-rich engagement.
Short on time?
Here is a table of content for quick access:
- What happened: CHAGEE launches flagship Pagoda House
- Retail meets ritual: a new play for lifestyle branding
- What marketers should know
- What’s next for CHAGEE?
Patrecia Meliana
CHAGEE launches flagship Pagoda House
Pagoda House marks CHAGEE’s first physical retail concept in Singapore and serves as an homage to Chinatown’s legacy as a social and commercial hub. The store blends design, culture, and interactivity, tapping into the growing demand for immersive brand experiences.
The two-story space features warm timber interiors, patterned tiles, and communal seating. These details are intentionally crafted to encourage conversation, much like the old teahouses that once served as gathering points for merchants and storytellers.
Outside, the store’s façade features a custom mural titled Where Jasmine Meets Orchid by Tell Your Children (TYC), a local creative studio. The collaboration extends indoors as well, where an exclusive CHAGEE x TYC capsule collection is available for purchase, only at this location while stocks last.
More than just a visual refresh, the concept is part of CHAGEE’s ongoing SG60 campaign celebrating Singapore’s cultural identity. This follows the August release of the brand’s Orchid Biluochun drink, another nod to local heritage through tea.
Patrecia Meliana
A new play for lifestyle branding
CHAGEE’s Pagoda House is part of a broader strategic move to elevate the brand beyond beverages. With its first foray into branded merchandise and location-specific collaborations, CHAGEE is testing the waters of lifestyle-driven retail while staying grounded in cultural storytelling.
This isn't CHAGEE’s first creative venture. Just last month, it collaborated with POP MART on a limited-edition Green Grape Milk Tea featuring Hacipupu collectibles. That campaign focused on foot traffic, social media sharing, and visual merchandising, signaling a playbook aimed at younger audiences through culture rather than traditional product marketing.
By combining retail, art, and cultural engagement into a single experience, CHAGEE positions itself closer to brands like Starbucks Reserve or MUJI Café. In these models, the product is just one part of a wider value proposition focused on lifestyle and identity.
Patrecia Meliana
What marketers should know
For brands experimenting with physical retail or cultural storytelling, CHAGEE’s Pagoda House offers some takeaways worth noting:
1. Flagships aren’t just stores. They’re storytelling spaces
CHAGEE treats Pagoda House as more than a retail outlet. It is a branded environment crafted to express values around community, creativity, and heritage. This approach shows how flagship experiences can act as long-form marketing, building emotional connection through space and narrative.
2. Cultural programming drives foot traffic and brand depth
From palm-reading workshops to calligraphy sessions and photo walks, CHAGEE is investing in content that brings culture into the retail experience. These micro-events convert stores into destinations, encouraging deeper audience engagement and social shareability.
3. Local collaborations unlock exclusivity and relevance
Working with homegrown creatives like TYC helps CHAGEE tap into street-level cultural capital. The mural gives the brand a permanent Instagram-friendly landmark, while the merch drop provides limited-edition appeal that fuels urgency and fandom.
What's next for CHAGEE?
From October 31 to November 2, CHAGEE is hosting a grand opening celebration that includes one-for-one drink promos, a “Tear and Win” giveaway with lifestyle prizes, and celebrity appearances by Mediacorp artistes Zhang Ze Tong and Nick Teo as honorary “store managers.”
But the real signal is long-term. With Pagoda House, CHAGEE is evolving from a modern tea brand into a cultural space-maker. This isn’t about selling more tea—it’s about owning a space in the consumer’s lifestyle and memory.
As more F&B and beverage players lean into experience-first branding, marketers should take notes on how CHAGEE connects product, place, and purpose to stand out in a saturated market.
