A Little Design Store In Fremantle
Some time last year, we stumbled upon Compendium Design Store (CDS) in Fremantle and met founder Jayden Weston. He set up the outfit as he was frustrated by the lack of independently-driven design stores in Perth. Having visited similar stores in larger cities like Berlin, New York and London, he felt that Perth, particularly Fremantle, needed a store where people could visit, browse and be inspired.
This small self-standing signage pointed us (literally) to Compendium
"From the get go, I wanted the store to cater to men and women equally and feature products from far and wide that you don't see everywhere," says Jayden on his vision. When asked how he put CDS together, the first-time business owner recalls, "the space found us, and while it was a big leap to sign the lease initially, it is only a small space, which keeps the overheads manageable."
Jayden Weston, founder of Compendium, standing outside his brick and mortar
Even though he has been, and still is learning on the job (from how to manage his numbers to keeping stock), CDS to him, is a self-directed job that he feels is "miles more fun" than the previous design-related work he was doing. "It's a bit of a 24/7 job but I love it. There's ups and downs of course, but kind of being able to have an idea and implementing it on my own is pretty great," says the creative soul who also designed his store's brand identity.
To keep the experience of visiting the store interesting for locals, Jayden ensures that it keeps evolving with new ranges. Despite operating for five years now, the place is a constant work in progress. At present, visitors will find Tintin products, TID Watches from Stockholm and Australian leather satchel bags by Toffee – "if I was a busy and important person going on lots of airplane rides it'd definitely be my bag of choice."
When asked how he keeps it all together, he says, "My priority is the customer experience in my little store, and creating a nice browsing experience through product selection, store design, branding, sound and smell."
