Lifestyle Ideation with Niki and Shaokao Cheng from BoConcept

Niki and Shaokao Cheng are the duo behind BoConcept NY. They’ve succeeded in making their way into the New York market and translating the brand concept into a treasured lifestyle. Thanks to Shaokao’s management skills and Niki’s passion for interior design, they’ve also managed to become one of the most successful BoConcept ventures in the world. We sat down with the couple to talk about their endeavor and its entry into the AptDeco community.

First of all thank you for your time. We really appreciate the opportunity of sitting down with you today. We’d like to start by getting to know a bit about you. What made you choose BoConcept as your business venture? What inspired you to bring BoConcept into NY?

Shaokao: What drove us to BoConcept in the beginning was not just the price point but the availability to customize pieces to fit into any space. Space is a premium in New York and a few inches can make a difference. There are so many studio apartments in the city and most of them are configured in a different way because of radiators or windows. Which is why people really want to maximize their space and BoConcept allows them to do so whether it’s with a wall unit or a sofa.

On top of that, you can also customize the pieces seamlessly, like the finish of the wood or whether you want your coffee table to have storage capacity. We offer all of that to our customers allowing them to get their money’s worth when it comes to how they optimize and enjoy their space.

That’s great! And what was BoConcept’s entry to NY like? What made you choose the location of your first store?

S: Once we found the brand we started looking for a location. We looked up all over and we ended up finding a location two blocks from where we lived. It was between Madison avenue and 30th street and back then that was a very catchy area. It was a corner location with a nice size and great ceilings.

We opened the store as her business but it was so busy since day 1 that I quit my job to join the team. Two years later, we opened another store here in 18th Street.

Niki: Yeah, but after we opened in Madison avenue and 30th street we noticed that other brands started to follow us there. So, ten years after we opened that store, we closed it and that area had become a furniture area.

Oh, that’s very interesting because we actually refer to this location as furniture row.

N: Actually we got here first too. And it’s a become a furniture area as well. It’s fascinating because we’ve built a community in the neighborhood. We’re always looking for new locations. We recently found a place that we liked. There’s no furniture stores around it and we decided that we’re going for it.

Great! Could you tell us where’s it going to be?

S: Sure. It’s going to be in Soho. We just closed a store there and we were looking for a new location.

N: Yeah, it was in Greene street. We were also one of the first brands there.

Interesting! And what other things do you consider when you’re opening a new store?

S: Well, furniture stores require a lot of space because the pieces are big. But ideally we’d like to get a corner spot with a lot of windows and a lot of traffic.

N: Yeah, but sometimes we can’t afford such a big location. People think that BoConcept is very big but we’re actually a small company. That’s why we sometimes select a B-location and then turn it into an A-location. We’re lucky because BoConcept pieces are pretty and they make any space look good.

S: I also look for spaces where we can organize events. We love bringing people to our stores and invite them to experience the brand. We need spaces with high ceilings to create this kind of experiences and the space at Soho is 17ft, so that would make it more conducive to have concerts or parties. We’ve had a lot of success thanks to these initiatives in terms of press. That’s definitely an important criteria for us.

That’s great strategy! What about your design process? What inspires you when it comes to interior design?

N: I like clean sleek lines. Things that are easy to mix and match. We like to use basic colors and elements for the big items and then use accent colors to make the space pop. Usually mid-century, clean simple lines.

You talked about the color influence that your designs have. Do you have any preference when it comes to colors?

N: Actually, no. Any accent color you place will dominate the space, even if it’s a very basic item, like a sofa. Take this room for example, it’s all grey and simple but it has a pop of yellow in one of the paintings. It’s a small touch but it still dominates the space.

Yeah, and it looks amazing! What about your own personal style? What does your home look like?

N: It’s all BoConcept furniture actually. We love the brand so much that we enjoy living in it. We’re surrounded by its environment whether we’re at work or at home.

That’s actually very nice! Now, we actually read that you guys have created spaces for many customers, including big Hollywood names. Is there a difference between this type of customer and a regular girl like me, for example?

N: I think that at the end of the day everybody has a different lifestyle. Some people like to entertain and we like to create a space to entertain. Some people like to go home and have their own space, and we’ll create a specific space for them too. It doesn’t matter whether you work in entertainment or if you’re regular people like us. It’s the lifestyle what makes the interior.

S: Yeah, but I’ll also add that in most cases we’ve ended up doing the entire apartment for the Hollywood names that we’ve worked for. For example, we did Mary J’s entire apartment and she’s someone who likes to enjoy her place. We created a wonderful space for her and her husband based on that.

N: Yeah, it’s all about their lifestyle.

Definitely. Now that you mention the lifestyle element, what would you recommend to someone who’s meeting BoConcept’s brand for the first time?

S: Well the process at least from our side would be to understand how they live and what they’re looking for. We like to get an understanding of their lifestyle needs and then from there we make our suggestions. What’s great about BoConcept is that everything can be tailored. For example, I don’t like to have too much storage at home because it drives me to accumulate more stuff. That’s why I try to have as little storage as possible. I have friends who like to have a lot of storage but that’s their thing, and we have a solution for that too.

N: Usually when someone walks in, you can easily identify their personality. There are so many things you can know from a person. If someone talks a lot about restaurants, you think “Oh, this person likes to go out”. Once we get to know their interests, we can develop a space based on that. Somehow we’re invading their privacy, right?

S: Yeah, but they’re sharing it with us.

N: Exactly! We know so much about them and we build a home for them. The thing is that they’re not just buying furniture from us, we’re introducing a better lifestyle for them. If you think of it like this, you’re actually doing a very important job for that person. They don’t just change their furniture. They’re also changing their lifestyle.

If you put your hair up and put on red lipstick, you then become a different person and that’s something that you can do anytime. But when you buy furniture, you get something that could last for ten years or even more. So that’s why I always tell my staff that they have such an important job. We’re defining people’s lives for the next ten years based on how we help them select their furniture.

Wow, that sound very fascinating. We too have to learn from our customers to build a platform that meets their needs.

N: Yeah, they’re not getting something like a nice dress that they can change anytime. Furniture will be a part of their lives for so many years.

Indeed. Now, what was your first impression when you met AptDeco? What led you to take BoConcept into this platform?

N: I think the company is very interesting. Like I said, furniture last for a long time, and just like a relationship sometimes you can’t have it for so long.

S: Yeah, because you move to another place for example.

N: Or you change a little bit of your lifestyle. Some people who enjoy entertaining may get into yoga a few years later. They could then decide that they don’t want to entertain anymore because they actually want to be with themselves. So when they have a change in lifestyle, there’s a change of furniture. With that in mind, it makes sense that you pass on a good piece of furniture to someone who can appreciate it more while you move on to get something else. Because of that I think that AptDeco does such an amazing job.

S: As a retailer, I have a lot of pieces but I don’t have enough space to display them. And AptDeco allows us to show most of the pieces that we have in our warehouse. On top of that, it also allows us to get to a wider audience. It helps us connect to people who don’t know us or people who do know us but don’t have the option to come to one of our stores.

N: Yeah, some people don’t like to go to stores anymore. They rather shop online. For example, designers don’t have to leave the comfort of their sofa to get a set of pieces. As long as they have the correct dimensions and they fit the space, it makes total sense for them not to go from one store to another.

We’re so glad to hear that from you! Now, what’s next for you guys? What do you plan to do next besides opening that new store in Soho?

S: Well, we’ve being working with BoConcept since 2003 and we’re looking forward to diversify into other brands, looks and price points.

N: Yeah, a new business venture. We don’t know what yet.

S: We have some ideas that we’re currently evaluating. We’ll end up doing whatever comes easy to us.

Interesting. Would it be within the furniture industry or some other industries?

N: I think it’d be a similar industry.

S: But we don’t want to limit our options either. We have some ideas outside the furniture industry too. It’s funny because sometimes you might get an email about this idea that you had in the past, and if continues to move forward you might end up executing it. That’s how it works for us.

The best of luck on that then! Thank you so much for sharing your lifestyle vision with us.

N: No problem at all! The more I talked about it, the more it makes sense. A lot of people don’t know it though. They think that all Interior Designers do is get furniture, but we really do much more than that.

Definitely! Thanks again for your time.

Learn more about BoConcept by visiting their website or their AptDeco profile where you can browse their products.

Originally published at www.aptdeco.com.