Taking a walk down the stairs from Largo de Santo Agostinho, you arrive at a clean white boutique- store named 9B in the alley of Santo Agostinho, filled with sunlight and the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Taking its name from its street address, the logo for “9B” invokes the image of an old cassette tape, which represents the owner’s vision for the shop. She hopes 9B can continuously be a meeting point for her customers to shop and enjoy coffee, just like the tape constantly rolling inside the cassette. The shop’s motto focuses on three key concepts: Clothes, Coffee and Conversations.
Daphne launched her first boutique store around eight years ago, having previously worked in the cosmetic and hospitality industries. “I have always appreciated the beauty of things. Over the years, my life attitude has changed a lot, as well as my views on the clothing business and fashion styles. Eventually, I’ve ended up doing what I love,” she says.
Her previous shop was located near the Horta e Costa neighborhood and closed in June last year. Then one random day, Daphne came across the 9B premises as she was wandering down the alley. She quickly re-opened her shop at the new location within two months, with a brand-new concept and style.
Taking French chic aesthetic style as her inspiration, the clothing items on sale – which she mostly sources from South Korea – all feature black, white, beige, gray and denim colors. “These are the basic colours for everyone,” Daphne explains. “To me, clothes are not just a piece of fabric, they represent a lifestyle.”
9B not only offers customers a great selection of clothing items, but is also the perfect place for coffee and conversations.
“9B is completely different from my former shop in terms of concept and style. In foreign countries there are many clothing stores that combine both coffee and clothes, plus personally I love coffee making,” she notes. Daphne purchases a variety of coffee beans from selected roasters around town, which she then uses to make specialty pour-over coffees, giving the coffee a better texture and taste. And to complement your coffee, 9B also stocks a selection of fine chocolates from Thailand and San Francisco.
“I wish to achieve a high quality in everything, including coffee, clothes and chocolate,” she says.
In terms of the final concept “conversations”, Daphne explains: “I always relish bonding with my customers. There are many office buildings nearby, so many office workers often come over for a cup of coffee, and then just sit and talk every other day. It doesn’t matter whether they make a purchase or not, I really enjoy this.”
“I hope there will be more unique stores in different communities and districts in Macau, so that locals can walk around and appreciate them. A distinctive community takes a joint effort from many shops owners, so I really hope this neighborhood of Santo Agostinho can build its own style just like the central neighborhood of Sao Lazaro.”
