Zouk is a Singaporean nightclub located in the Clarke Quay district. Opened in 1991, the brand has since expanded to various cities around Asia and North America. One of the country's most prominent nightclubs, it has won the Singapore Tourism Board's "Best Nightspot Experience" award 6 times, between 1996 and 2007. Zouk was ranked number 10 on DJ Magazine's list of Top 100 clubs in the world in 2006, 2007 and 2010. In 2017, Zouk Singapore earned its highest ranking yet at number 3, the top entry for clubs across Asia. In 2021, Zouk Singapore was ranked number 11 while Zouk KL was ranked 33 on the DJ Mag Top 100 Clubs list in the world. In September 2015, one of its founders, Lincoln Cheng, sold the rights of the Zouk brand to Genting Hong Kong, an affiliate of Genting Singapore. The brand and its business was valued at S$40 million by the financial audit firm Ernst & Young in 2013. On 1 September 2020, Genting Hong Kong sold Zouk for S$14 million to Tulipa, a firm owned by Lim Keong Hui, the former deputy CEO of Genting Hong Kong and the son of Genting Hong Kong CEO and chairman of Genting Group Lim Kok Thay.

Etymology

The club is named after the Antillean Creole word for 'party'.

History

Zouk was designed based on Cheng's travels around Ibiza and other Mediterranean coastal countries. The club, located at Jiak Kim Street, was housed in three restored warehouses, which were built in 1919, when Cheng acquired it. Three interconnected clubs were housed within the warehouses. In December 2016, Zouk moved to its new premises at Clarke Quay. Housed in a revamped warehouse, the new space retained its multi-room concept with three club outlets and two bars: In 2021 (month unknown), amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Zouk further expanded its premises by taking over its neighboring bar, Get Juiced, in the same Clarke Quay entertainment complex. This additional space housed a restaurant and another bar.

Other locations

Malaysia

Zouk Kuala Lumpur

In 2004, Cheng opened the second outlet of Zouk in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, together with Cher Ng, a former Zouk Singapore resident DJ. Zouk KL underwent a major revamp in 2008, and ultimately moved to newer and bigger premises in 2015 in the TREC entertainment and lifestyle precinct located in Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ng is also one of the partners of TREC. Since November 2022, it has been rebranded as Spark Club KL.

Zouk Genting

After Cheng sold Zouk to Genting Hong Kong in 2015, the new owners opened a third outlet of Zouk in Genting Highlands, Malaysia in 2019. This entertainment complex, housed within the Genting Casino and Integrated Resort, featured Zouk Group's first proper restaurant, FUHU Genting, a new club concept named Empire and RedTail Genting, a spin-off of the RedTail concept in Singapore. It also opened AYU Awana (date unknown), a restaurant within Resorts World Awana, a smaller, sister resort of Resorts World Genting just one cable car ride away.

United States

Zouk Las Vegas

In 2022, Zouk opened a fourth outlet in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA at Resorts World LV. The concepts present in this new outlet mirror the concepts in other existing outlets. In addition, it has a relatively large food hall named Famous Foods Street Eats, featuring 16 different dining concepts, in particular Singaporean and Japanese concepts.

Zouk Los Angeles

The group will be opening its sixth outlet along the La Cinega Boulevard in Los Angeles. The 16,500 sq ft venue will be jointly operated with SBE Entertainment Group and will then occupy the Nightingale nightclub. Zouk Los Angeles is slated to open in 2024.

Japan

Zouk Tokyo

In 2023, Zouk has announced its expansion to open its fifth outlet at the newly built Granbell Square in Ginza, Tokyo. The club is built through a partnership with Japan's Belluna, the company behind Granbell Hotel Group. It is located at the basement level of the hotel and was opened on 6 October 2023.

ZoukOut

In 2000, Zouk started an all-night dance music festival, ZoukOut. The dance festival was held at Siloso Beach at Sentosa, Singapore. ZoukOut was held annually with the exception of 2019 to 2021, due to the festival taking a break and COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore. The festival resumed in 2022.