Global brands to expand big in Malaysia

Singapore: Several international brands are looking at expanding their presence in Malaysia in a big way next year.

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They include Daiso, a Japanese brand that sells everything for RM5, and an emerging Spanish fashion brand called Desigual. Daiso, a shop selling items for a nominal RM5 each, is looking at increasing its presence by ano-ther 10 stores from the present 12. "We are also looking at setting up a 40,000 sq ft warehouse somewhere between Kuala Lumpur and Malacca next year to house goods for the stores in Malaysia and Singapore," Daiso Industries Co Ltd president Hirotake Yano said when met at an inaugural Retail Global Conne-xion event at the Raffles City Convention recently. Daiso stores are currently avai-lable in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Malacca, Johor Baru and Port Klang. On the investment for the warehouse and the 10 new stores, Yano said they were still under discussion. He said the outlook for the Malaysian and Singaporean business was positive but did not elaborate. Singapore has eight Daiso stores with the flagship store operating in CapitaMalls Asia's IMM mall in Jurong, Singapore. On whether the company can sustain last year's prices, given rising raw material costs, Yano said: "We take one thing at a time." The company sources its products from Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam and Taiwan, he said. Meanwhile, Desigual - a Barcelona-based clothing brand which also produces accesso-ries and shoes - is in talks with several parties to bring the brand in a big way to Malaysia. Desigual chief executive Manel Adell said there is a store within a store in Kuala Lumpur launched two years ago. "This is how we test the market. The brand has been a hit and we are looking for a master franchise to bring the brand big into Malaysia." Adell said the company is in talks with several parties on the matter, but nothing has been finalised yet. He, however, said the first standalone store will be opened in Kuala Lumpur next year. "We went to Singapore in a small way too, by having a store within a store in a mall but now we are opening our fourth outlet," he said. Adell said the company does not compete with other successful Spanish brands such as Zara and MNG as their target markets are different. "They are very good references for us but that's all. They don't pose as competition," he said. For the Malaysian store, it will feature a mix of men's and women's clothings, he added.