Billion-ringgit Econsave retail business grows from humble roots

ECONSAVE Cash & Carry is a Malaysian family-run retail brand that everyone recognises but knows very little about.

Its history goes back to 1955 when Lai Poh Tian, to escape poverty in China, sold the family's only cow and borrowed some money to get on a ship to what was then Malaya.

"My father is from a family of three boys. He used to feed the cow every morning before going to school," executive director Lai Sia Ling said.

Sia Ling, who is the fourth among four sons and a daughter, said that when his father landed in Klang, Selangor, he worked as a labourer.

After working for about 14 years, the senior Lai opened the first store, a wooden sundry shop, which was less than 200 sq ft, in 1941 in Port Klang. The shop was named Yong Long.

Later on, the sundry shop was replaced by a mini-market. In 1955, the family opened their first supermarket.

In 1997, the five Lai siblings decided to expand the business and it led to the opening of the first Econsave store in Pandamaran, Klang.

"We were known for our low prices and we coined a term to represent our strategy," Sia Ling said, adding that Econsave stood for being economical and providing savings to consumers.

Over the past 13 years, the retailer has grown into a billion-ringgit business with 37 outlets in Peninsular Malaysia and 4,000 employees.

This makes it the biggest local supermarket/hypermarket chain. Today, it can boast that it serves 3,000 customers a day per store.

It comes as no surprise then that merchant bankers often approach Econsave to persuade them to consider listing the company on the stock exchange or a possible merger and acquisition.

All of which, however, Sia Ling has politely declined.