Sea Emporium, founded by former Chief Stew Susie Shaw in 2011, specialises in luxury interior styling solutions for superyachts. With a tailored approach and a catalogue of over 20,000 high-end products, they provide everything from linens and dining ware to leather goods and custom accessories.
Their expertise spans new builds, refits, and project management, offering a seamless, eco-conscious service that ensures yacht interiors perfectly align with owners’ preferences and lifestyles.
Why Sea Emporium is the perfect partner for new build support
When it comes to outfitting and managing the complexities of new yacht builds, Sea Emporium stands out as a trusted expert in the industry. Founded by Susie Shaw, Sea Emporium leverages over a decade of experience as a chief stewardess and her expertise in outfitting new yacht builds across Europe, bringing invaluable insight to the table.
Susie’s aim is to inform and develop crews with practical advice, drawing on her extensive knowledge to simplify and streamline the process.
New build Tips for Chief stews from Susie Shaw – Founder, Sea Emporium
Here are the new-build top tips from Susie Shaw, Sea Emporium Founder:
Understand who you are working with for answers
“Are you dealing with the owners directly for interior answers? Do you need approval from interior designers or management companies for purchasing items? In our opinion this needs to be defined first before anything.”
Who Is Responsible?
“Normally the first job to do is to understand who is responsible for the different areas of purchasing. Is the interior designer only supplying soft furnishings and the crew are responsible in purchasing the rest? Maybe the management company have their own trusted team for the outfitting. Or the owner has their own preferences and want to do all the outfitting themselves. One of the first steps is to clearly define where the responsibility lies initially so work is not duplicated by different teams and time is wasted.”
Getting Organised
“Once you understand who is responsible for the outfitting it is time to get organised for the outfitting you are having to supply. Preparing a detailed check list divided up in different zones of the yacht. Your yacht outfitting company can normally help you with this.”
Time Management
“Crew are often getting brought onto projects later which means a timeline needs to be studied from the initial start period and the date of items that need to arrive onboard. We always suggest starting with the main interior items such as Tableware and luxury service accessories that have the longest lead times in the outfitting process moving onto linens and cabin accessories. We often find that items such as the popular leather accessories can have lead times of 20 weeks, so we always make this one of the first priorities. If you are working with a professional outfitting company, they will study your timeline and be able to prioritise this for you, so nothing is forgotten or delivered late.”
Size Matters
“Depending on the size of your vessel it will make all the difference. We often find the 100m plus superyachts the interior team are normally given at least a year to organise. We do however see a lot of chief stews been brought in around 6 weeks or sometimes less to set-up sizes of around 40m. This can be extremely stressful for them, and it is very important to approach this with a good system in place and the right trusted suppliers around to support them to complete the project on time.”
Sustainability
“When setting up a new build it is important to implement sustainable options from the start. Adding filtered water so re-usable water bottles are used. Refillable toiletries. Eco friendly cleaning products and removing items like plastic straws and replacing them with metal alternatives.”
Other Important Factors To Consider:
Budgeting – Have you a budget to keep to for the different departments?
Functionality – Are the products you are selecting suitable onboard? Can they be easily stowed and are they secure and functional at sea?
Reordering – Keeping a note of all the product reference codes of items bought so they can be easily re-ordered in the future. A professional supplier should keep this on file for you.
Delivery and VAT – If the yacht is getting exported and you are wanting all the goods supplied VAT free you will need to ensure that all the goods are onboard for the delivery date in order to receive VAT free. Communication with the shipyard is important so surprises do not happen.
Storage and getting the products onboard – Do you need to organise lifts to get certain items onboard? Have your storage facilities set-up in the yard to store the items prior to having them placed onboard? We suggest that goods are checked and organised prior to moving them onboard so when the delivery takes place there is a smoother transition.
Whether you’re embarking on your first new build project or looking for ways to streamline the process, Sea Emporium’s expertise ensures you’ll have the guidance and support needed to achieve exceptional results.
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