Cheap Lab
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Native name | 執笠倉 |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | So Hiu-fan |
Number of locations | 10 (2018) |
Area served | Hong Kong |
| Website | www |
Cheap Lab (Chinese: 執笠倉) is a retail chain of stationery in Hong Kong. The company was founded in 2014 by So Hiu-fan soon after she separated from her ex-husband. The first location was opened in a 40-square-foot space in the Apple Mall section of the Dragon Centre shopping mall in Sham Shui Po, which So leased for HK$3,000 per month. The store initially sold low-cost jewellery and a small amount of stationery purchased online from mainland China, with teenage schoolgirls being its main target audience. Later that year, So expanded the store by leasing ten shop spaces in the Apple Mall, giving a total area between 300 and 400 square feet, and rebranded the store "Cheap Lab" along with introducing its logo.[1]
Cheap Lab opened its second location at Cheung Sha Wan Road in Sham Shui Po. As the company was able to attract a wider range of customers owing to the shop's location on a busy street, the company expanded the types of products it sold to include more types of stationery, household items and smartphone accessories. So met her current husband in 2016; his parents founded stationery wholesaler Tung Fong Stationery Co. and operated the company for 30 years. He was introduced as a shareholder in the company and injected capital. The company opened six new locations in 2016 and started directly importing products from the manufacturer, bypassing wholesalers. As of 2018, the company operated ten locations in Hong Kong. Ming Pao attributed the rapid expansion of the company to its strategy of importing products and leasing shops, and to allowing employees to manage and interact with customers on the company's Facebook fan page.
References
- ^ 薛偉傑 (29 March 2019). "打執笠旗號 執笠倉成文具店新貴 創辦人堅守初衷——毋須賺到盡". Ming Pao (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 19 December 2019.