1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN
Research Unit for Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia
Foundation of Natural Build Environments (FNBE)
English 2 [ENGL0205]
STATIONARY
BUSINESS
- More than just pencils selling -
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)

2. Contents
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 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

3. INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION OF RESEARCH PROJECT
The 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 SHOP
Stationery 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.

4. 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.

5. 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 SHOP
The 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.

6. TEE SENG SDN BHD
The 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 ART
Alvin 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

7. 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 ART
Out 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

8. 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 PEK
Comparatively, 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

9. 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 BHD
Tee 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.

10. 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 SHOP
The 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

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Figure 5: The other side of Vision Art, which rented to a telecommunication shop.
Figure 6: rack of Kure pen in variety of colors.

14. Figure 7 Kure pens and the paper for customers to try out the ink.

15. TEE SENG
Figure 8: Front view of Tee
Seng stationery shop.
Figure 13: Picture of
Macy and the owner,
Tee Seng.

16. Figure 9: rack of pen being sold
Figure 10: Little corner, which acts as counter.

17. Figure 11: Two binding machine in the shop.
Figure 12: Variety of tape being hanged for easier approach.

18. HENG CO STATIONERY SHOP
Figure 14: Side view of Pjs 7 shop.
Figure 15: Owner of the Pjs shop.

19. Figure 16: Old radio being displayed at the corner of the shop.
Figure 17: Pictures of sewing machine.

20. 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.

21. Figure 20: Old stuff being stacked in a messy way.
Figure 22: Fridge selling ice cream.
Figure 21: Toy machine outside the shop to attract children.
Figure 23: Accessories of daily stuff also being sold instead
of stationery such as battery.

22. Figure 24: Picture of Benny and the owner.
Figure 25: Picture of Joyee and the owner.