Singapore startup's stores and apps connect world's music fans

SINGAPORE -- The new Swee Lee music store in Singapore's Clarke Quay entertainment district is popular with young people and families on weekends. In addition to selling musical instruments and equipment plus fashion items, it also offers a cafe space where customers can enjoy coffee while playing guitar or listening to vinyl records of their choice.

"Swee Lee Clarke Quay represents our vision to transform customer experience at our brick-and-mortar stores, cultivating a dynamic, community-centric retail space, thoughtfully designed to go beyond just buying and selling," Kuok Meng Ru, the CEO and founder of the Caldecott Music Group, the startup that owns the Swee Lee chain, said in a news release in April when it opened the store, its third in Singapore.