SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGNResearch Unit for Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia

Foundation of Natural Build Environments (FNBE)

English 2 [ENGL0205]

STATIONARY BUSINESS

GROUP MEMBERS:

ALVIN TAN SHING YEOU (0314850)EUGENE PENG YAP SIANG (0315259)BENNY TAN SHOWIE (0315447)CHAN PIN QI (0314676) MACY KHOR SEEM LENG (0315208)LEE JO YEE (0314880)

- More than just pencils selling -

ContentsINTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION OF RESEARCH PROJECT.............................................................................3

INTRODUCTION OF STATIONERY SHOP...............................................................................3

KEY SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................4

THE HISTORY OF THE STATIONERY BUSINESS...........................................................................4

DOWN-SLOPE BUSINESS......................................................................................................4

BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE BUSINESS:....................................................................5

HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP...............................................................................................5

TEE SENG SDN BHD..............................................................................................................6

VISION ART...........................................................................................................................6

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BUSINESSES’ COMPETITIVE TRAITS.....................................7

VISION ART...........................................................................................................................7

AH PEK..................................................................................................................................8

RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................9

VISION ART...........................................................................................................................9

TEE SENG SDN BHD..............................................................................................................9

HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP.............................................................................................10

BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................10

APPENDICES............................................................................................................................10

PHOTO................................................................................................................................10

VISION ART.........................................................................................................................10

TEE SENG............................................................................................................................15

HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP.............................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION OF RESEARCH PROJECTThe main focus of this assignment was to compare the similarities

and contrasting differences of three specific business . We will be

doing a research on stationery shop ,focusing on three very-owned

stationary shop in Subang Jaya, Kuala Lumpur which are Vision Art

& Stationery shop , Tee Seng Sdn Bhd and PJS 7 Stationary shop .

This aim of this research project is to compare the alter business

strategies used by different owners respectively. We will mainly

enquire about their history and the differences of how the business

has been operating between now and then.

INTRODUCTION OF STATIONERY SHOPStationery shop is a place where you can find a large range pens,

paper ,envelopes ,ink toners and other supplies for home or

office .Stationery has historically pertained to a wide gamut of

materials: paper and office supplies, writing implements, greeting

cards, glue, pencil cases and other similar items. The usage and

marketing of stationery is a niche industry that is increasingly

threatened by electronic media. As stationery is intrinsically linked

to paper and the process of written, personalized communication,

many techniques of stationery manufacture are employed, of

varying desirability and expense.

KEY SUMMARY

THE HISTORY OF THE STATIONERY BUSINESS

DOWN-SLOPE BUSINESS Nowadays, the stationary manufacture sector is filled with 60% from China 30% from Japan & 10% from others like Malaysia, Thailand, and etc

Before 1980s, global market was just local manufacture and not much of international trade. In the decade of the 1990’s the world is entering a period of economic prosperity and China as well. Due to low labor cost and higher productivity, China increase production from small portion to at least 10-15% raise per year.

The market now is divided into two main sections, high quality product by advance country & lower quality product by growing economy. Malaysia’s manufacturer was eliminated since 2000’s, because of higher labor cost and only the higher quality manufacturer survived.

Stepping into internet era, the retailing market competition increases gradually into free trade with the growth of online trader. Retail success is no longer all about physical stores, due to the increases in retailers now offering online store interfaces for consumers.

With the rapid growth of online shopping, comes a wealth of new market footprint coverage opportunities for online dealer that can offshore market demands and service requirements, like more specific product that can only be found through online market

In a nut shell, local stationary industry face two major challenges since 1990’s, which are global competitors and flexibility of online dealer.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF THE BUSINESS:

Before we go for the interview, we have done some background research about this three stationery shops through various channel such as on-site observation, books, verbal surveys from the residents and etc. Below are our findings.

HENG CO STATIONERY SHOPThe first shop is an old traditional stationery shop situated at

Jalan PJS 7/15 known as Heng Co stationery shop. It is a 6062 ft small shop below the residential flats and operated from morning 11am to 7pm evening. At the entrance, there are some toy vending machines, that kind where you slot in coins in exchange for a mysterious toy wrapped in a plastic ball-like casing and also a big ice cream machines there. For a moment, you will most probably feel like you have traveled back in time because of these vintage furniture. Furthermore, most of the furniture such as the book shelves, racks, bamboo chairs, tables and wardrobes were handmade by the owner’s father and has a very high sentimental value. The shop is not occupied with any high technology electronics appliances but just a traditional ceiling fan in a shabby condition. Although the products are kept inside the glass-shielded counter, it is not hard to notice some have covered with dust and even yellowed with age.

After some conversation between the owner, Mrs.Chang Lin Lee and our group members who are Benny Tan and Lee Jo Yee, we have learned that the shop not only sell stationery but provide basic sewing service too. Mrs. Chang The shop sold hardware products previously but slowly has stopped because lack of demand in this particular area. She serves around 10 customers per day with most of them are students from the nearby primary school and some elderly residents nearby.

Speaking of the history, the business has started back to 1960 when it was situated at Sungai Wang Tin Ming upon the request from the British rulers. The local ruler of that time was an English man and has asked the owner’s mother, Mrs. Khor Sai

Ngoh to open a stationery shop for the convenience of the villagers at the area. With the fear being punished, her family has accepted the model provided by the British and opened a shop obediently. Mrs.Khor passed away after 3 years the shop was established and has her husband and 18 years old Mrs Chang Lin Lee to continue the business. The business grew rapidly and earn a great amount of profit back then until 1990s when they were forced to move to PJS 7 due to the demolition of the area in order to build more double-story houses.

TEE SENG SDN BHDThe second shop is situated at a strategic location which is

situated inside Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, the Tee Seng Sdn Bhd. From the appearance, the shop looks small and seems to have nothing to offer other than some basic pens and papers; you will be fooled if you believe so. Upon stepping inside the shop, you will be welcomed by the owner, a 55 years old friendly looking uncle, Mr. Loo Tee Seng. With another 2 employees a girl from South-Africa and a local boy, he sells stationery and provides Photostat, printing and binding services to their main customer source which is the Taylor’s University community. They serve around 50 customers per day with most of them are students, lecturers, school officers and clerks. The shop is fully air-conditioned and the products are neatly arranged in shelves or hung on racks. The uncle keeps an eye on the hygiene of the store all the time and makes sure that his customers queue up for the printing service during peak hours.

From the interview between our group members Macy Khor

and Chan Pin Qi and Mr.Loo, we have learned that before the shop

was established together with Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus

in 2011, the owner Mr.Loo worked with his brother in a stationary

shop located at KL Jalan Ampang in 1996. Back then, it was a huge

business where their customers are mostly large cooperation

companies. They have signed contracts and have great business

cooperation with those big cooperations. He shared his experience

by telling us the importance of strategy location of the business and

also the specialty of the business you provide to the customer.

Their specialty field was providing binding services like binding of

books or magazine as there were a lot of engineering firm around

their location back then. After working with his brother for more

than 20 years, he decided to retire from his work and find a more

relaxing work to pass his time as his daughter and son were all

grown up .In 2010, he meet his old friend, Datuk Loy, the owner of

the Taylor’s University and was notified that there was shop lots in

the commercial block available for him to start his stationary shop

business. Initially, the business did not go very well as most of the

students were not relocated in this new campus (Taylor Lakeside

University campus). However, for the next 2 years, the business

has showed great improvement because of the increase in the

student population.

VISION ARTAlvin Tan and Eugene Peng have been assigned to interview

another well-known stationery shop known as “Vision Art” which is situated at 3, Jalan PJS 11/28,Bandar Sunway, 46150, Petaling Jaya is another favorite spot for art students around Bandar Sunway. Other than the Singaporean investor Mr. James, the founders and also the owner of the shop Mr. Franky and Mrs. Winny Hiau welcome around 150 customers everyday with most of them from Sunway University, The One Academy and Taylor’s University. With only 3 Malay female employees, they sell mainly stationery and vast options of art materials and provide Photostat and binding service. There are many choices The one and only Vision Art has most of their products up to date and they are nicely arranged on the book shelves and situated in a specific area so that students may help themselves in searching their desired materials. The shop is also fully air-conditioned and occupied with close-circuit televisions (CCTV) to ensure the security in the shop.

After having a quick chat with Mr.Franky, we have learned that the history of the business can be traced back to the period from 1994 to 1997 when they had been introduced to a stationery supplier and decided to start a small shop in PJS state with the target customer are the students of Saito Academic of Art College. Starting with a very small model and without much expectation, the business grew and earned more profit than they have expected and eventually require a bigger venue. They moved to Bandar Sunway at 1998 and the number of customers has increased since from previously 80% students vs 20% outsiders to now 50% students vs 50% outsiders. Outsiders are some office workers, professional artists, photographers, lecturers and so on.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BUSINESSES’ COMPETITIVE TRAITS

As fellow architecture students, we understand the importance of

stationaries and various art tools in our pursuit of our career. In

this research assignment, we made these stationary shops as our

interview subjects. We analyze the business’s competitive traits of

these shops, which are namely Vision Art, Pundeh and Ah Pek.

VISION ARTOut of these three shops, Vision Art has the longest history and

thus most experienced in this particular field. As the business go

on, the goods and services provided diversified as well. The shops

has started giving printing and binding service but these services

face furious competition as more and more professional printing

shops emerge in vicinity. They can only depend on the cheaper

price and faster speed as they stand no chance in the battle of

quality against these shops. As per their printing and binding

service, they applied the same strategy on their goods as well. They

lower the price of their goods according to the customers’

feedbacks and demands. Their strategy is to attract customers with

their cheaper price vast diversity of goods.

Most of their customers are art students from nearby universities

and working designers. This is the one of the immediate causes of

its goods diversification towards art tools. This specialization is one

of its advantages as these goods are not very common. Another

advantage is the well-trained employees. They are familiar with all

the goods and their purpose and other detailed information. They

provide advice and left a good impression in the customers that are

unfamiliar with these goods. As such, the shop is frequently

promoted through words from others and gained a strong

reputation, especially in the nearby universities.

However, these art tools are also rather expensive, thus it is hard

to just rely on these art tools alone. On the other hand, the more

common goods such as A4 papers and pens face more competition

from many others shops around area SS 15. Another major

disadvantage is the location of the shop. There are very few

numbers of parking lots around the shop so it is really difficult for

people to stop by and stay for a long time.

AH PEKComparatively, Ah Pek has the shortest history among the tree

shops. However, the owner has experience running a stationary

shop before opening this shop in Taylor’s University lakeside

Campus. Since this shop was establish as pass time business, the

owner does really care about the present competition and hence no

strategy is used. The pricing is higher than the stationary shops

outside of the campus because of the higher rental.

The shop also provides printing and binding service. It faces

competition from other printing and binding service within the

campus and outside of the campus. Its printing service is especially

unprofitable because of the good printing service provided by the

library. It is more student-friendly and better in quality as well with

same price. The variety of the goods in the shop is also very limited

that students have to go outside to get required art tools. This most

likely due to the small space of the shop that inhibited the shop’s

further development.

The shop’s only advantage against other stationary shops is its

location which is within the university compound, making it more

convenient for the students as no transportation is needed. The

numbers of students in the university is also steadily increasing.

RECOMMENDATION

VISION ART Limited space in Vision Art has become the biggest problem in running the business. It is always filled up with customer but will never get enough space to move around. Imagine when people carrying the materials that are large in scale moving around the shop. Besides, stocks are pilled up until the ceiling. It will be a threat when people walking by in the risk of goods falling down. Therefore, larger space is needed to fit in the customers and the stocks existed.

Other than larger space is recommended, student price discount is also a preferable way of running a stationery business in the area of various university existed. Student who have zero income and still gaining financial support from their parents will find it a burden for monthly expense especially architecture or design school students which need variety of materials from different price range. Therefor, price should be lower down when comes to students.

TEE SENG SDN BHDTee Seng is now encountering a threat, which then affect its business performance, which is the rental. The rental here has reached its high peak until RM 4000 per month excluding the electricity and maintenance fee, therefore, the pricing will be a bit higher compare to others which then lose his customer. Price should be a standard price and figure out another way of solving the rental problem.

The goods in Tee Seng are founded not sufficient when comes to modeling. More variety of goods is recommended for the shop in order to increase its profit. This will then be a preferable place for students, as no travel is needed.

HENG CO STATIONERY SHOPThe maintenance of shop lot structure is recommended to improve. As shop lot has been standing for over few decades, it is already old and full of dust. Running a business should have a good impression

for customers in order to attract them. That’s why it should start renovation of the shop if the business wants to be continued. If the business is not meant to continue, a promotion is needed to clear its stock out and gain back the cost of running it.

Besides, the arrangement of goods being displayed is a biggest problem in attracting the customers, as it does not look like a stationery shop. People tend to ignore the shop, as it is nothing that can let them know there’s a business running inside. Moreover, old furniture like altar and the Rotan chair are recommended to be discarded from the shop as they should not be them who becoming the focus of the business instead of the stationery. If the sticks are placed in a neat way, customers can notice the goods easier, the performance increase, and yet it still has the chance of surviving in this competitive business.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES

PHOTO

VISION ART

Figure 1: Front view of Vision Art stationery shop outside Sunway Pyramid shopping complex.

Figure 2: Picture of Alvin and one of the owners of Vision Art, Mr. Franky.

Figure 3: Picture of worker serving customer and recommending the product which suitable for the customer.

Figure 4: Rack of putting variety of papers at the end of the shop.

Figure 5: The other side of Vision Art, which rented to a telecommunication shop.

Figure 6: rack of Kure pen in variety of colors.

TEE SENG

Figure 8: Front view of Tee Seng stationery shop.

Figure 13: Picture of Macy and the owner, Tee Seng.

Figure 9: rack of pen being sold

Figure 10: Little corner, which acts as counter.

HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP

Figure 15: Owner of the Pjs shop.

Figure 11: Two binding machine in the shop.

Figure 12: Variety of tape being hanged for easier approach.

Figure 14: Side view of Pjs 7 shop.

Figure 16: Old radio being displayed at the corner of the shop. Figure 17: Pictures of sewing machine. Figure 18: Old cupboards which fill up the stock.

Figure 19: Place where act as guardian for their business. Figure 20: cupboard of stocking products, which lack of sale.

Figure 20: Old stuff being stacked in a messy way. Figure 21: Toy machine outside the shop to attract children.

Figure 22: Fridge selling ice cream. Figure 23: Accessories of daily stuff also being sold instead of stationery such as battery.

Figure 24: Picture of Benny and the owner.

Figure 25: Picture of Joyee and the owner.