Business

Saturday November 15, 2008

Cheetah shifts to high gear

By RACHAEL KAM


It’s moving into retailing lifestyle products

SPORTS and casual wear retailer Cheetah Holdings Bhd is planning to diversify into shoes, bags and even healthcare items, as the company tries to ensure its home-grown Cheetah brand stays relevant and competitive.

Having been in the sports and casual wear retail industry for three decades, the Cheetah brand has seen steady growth, especially as the number of shopping malls in Malaysia increases.

The company is now shifting up a gear.

It has begun selling Cheetah sports spectacles and sunglasses at all Focus Point outlets in Malaysia after entering into an agreement with eyecare company Focus Point Vision Care Group Sdn Bhd.

Cheetah chairman and managing director Chia Kee Foo, 46, said the company would be getting more distribution rights for international lifestyle brands.

It was also considering franchising its boutique, which sells casual and sports wear.

“It may be easy to own a brand but a lot of efforts is required to build a strong brand that is easily acceptable or recognisable by the market,” Chia told StarBiz in an interview. “We should not limit ourselves only to the sports wear and casual wear segments while there is a huge untapped market out there.”

The family business was founded by Chia Yoon Yuen, his wife Hor Ah Kuan and their son Kee Yew, in 1977.

They initially operated out of their single-storey house in Kuala Lumpur with three staff. As the business grew, they moved to a double-storey house, then a shoplot in Taman Maluri in Cheras.

Today, Cheetah is listed on the Bursa Malaysia main board and operates out of a 16,000 sq ft factory in Taman Shamelin Perkasa. It has six home-grown brands: Cheetah, Cheetah Ladies, Cheetah Junior, Cth Unlimited, C-two and C. Union.

It is also the sole distributor for Ladybird children’s wear and GQ men’s office wear.

Chia was roped in to assist his mother in 1979, after his father passed away. He was only 17.

He and his elder brother quickly discovered that it was easier for a product with an easy-to-recognise brand name to get repeat purchases. They then decided on Cheetah as their brand name, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“A cheetah is a unique animal with remarkable speed. We want to move ahead aggressively like one,” Chia said.

The Cheetah group now has some 700 consignment counters at supermarkets, hypermarkets and shopping malls, 18 boutiques, including two Ladybird outlets, and 90 sports shops.

Two years ago, Cheetah bought 0.8ha of industrial land in Balakong, Seri Kembangan and spent RM12mil to build its new headquarters, which it will move into in February.

On the economic slowdown, Chia said the company’s decision to outsource early on has proven right. “It has helped us control our costs well in the past 30 years, especially during the recession,” he said.

Chia said Cheetah outsourced its manufacturing to 10 local and overseas producers.

But he acknowledged that “this round of economic slowdown is a little tough compared with the past two times because all prices including raw materials, petrol and electricity have gone up dramatically at the same time.”

However, he said Cheetah remains positive of posting consistent growth in the coming years.

For the financial year ended June 30, Cheetah posted a net profit of RM9.42mil on revenue ofRM103.34mil compared with RM9.86mil and RM88.67mil respectively the previous year.


CHEETAH : [Stock Watch] [News]


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