Sunday October 11, 2009

Making memories

By CHIN MUI YOON

Local greeting card brand Memory Lane has expressed feelings for Malaysians for over 30 years. Now, it’s looking to do the same for the rest of the world.

A SHOEBOX in my closet contains many reminders of happy moments that never fail to make me smile. Although the greeting cards in it are faded and dog-eared, they still contain precious expressions of love, support and joy, as expressed by my parents and friends over the years.

Chances are most people would hang on to that cute singing birthday card they received for their 10th birthday, that first heart-shaped Valentine’s love note or that special congratulatory message on their graduation day. And the odds that one of them is a Memory Lane greeting is fairly large.

One of Malaysia’s earliest greeting card companies is also now one of our largest. In fact, its greetings now extend well beyond our shores – Memory Lane is today the world’s largest distributor of Chinese New Year cards!

Memory Lane founder Koh Boon Kher (seated) with Wong Mun Hoe and Jo-Ann Yeoh, with a selection of their greeting cards.

It all started in 1974 when its founder, Koh Boon Kher, a marketing graduate from Britain, joined forces with a couple of friends to start a greeting card business. However, their initial capital of RM45,000 ran out within a year, and Koh was left to flounder on his own with a bank loan of RM30,000.

At that time, there was only a Hallmark store selling an assortment of expensive, imported greeting cards. Koh operated his little venture from his car boot, which he used to store the cards he’d ordered from the United States, and delivered them to supermarkets around town. In 1977, he opened his first store at Wisma HLA in Kuala Lumpur, which doubled as his office.

“My business card identified me as the managing director, however I was also the stock keeper, accountant, sales manager, cashier and delivery boy,” recalls Koh with a laugh when we met recently at his printing plant in Kajang.

“The retail business was bad but cards were selling well, especially at the MPH bookstore at the old Jaya Supermarket in Section 14, Petaling Jaya.

“A small space then became available and I took over the tenancy. My shop flourished along with Jaya, which, in the 1970s, was popular as PJ boomed.”

Koh’s RM100,000 turnover in the first year grew to some RM40mil two decades later. The company has 30 stores in Malaysia today.

“Looking back at those early days, I can’t imagine the kind of hours and sweat I put into Memory Lane,” reminisces Koh, a soft-spoken man.

He credits his new partners with injecting zest and vision into the company: Wong Mun Hoe, its executive creative director, was responsible for creating the square-shaped corporate greeting cards that gave Memory Lane its edge; and Jo-Ann Yeoh, its managing director, is the business’ marketing whizz.

Saying it best

In the 1990s, imported cards cost up to RM15 each, so Koh and his team saw the need for locally-printed cards that were more affordable.

Memory Lane outlets are brightly lit and cheerful, and draw customers with a selection of cards, balloons, stuffed toys and other gifts.

“You could see the obvious difference in quality between our locally-made cards and imported greeting cards at that time,” explains Wong. “So we started designing and printing our own brand of cards under the tagline ‘Memory Lane says it best’.”

Corporate festive greeting cards now make up 70% of sales for Memory Lane and it’s regarded as the brand leader in this segment.

“It was thrilling the first time we received an order for 1,000 pieces of corporate Hari Raya cards, as all along we had sold one or two pieces per customer at the stores!” Wong recalls.

Later, Memory Lane won the licensing rights from American Greetings Corp, the world’s largest greeting card company, to reproduce its greetings on various types of cards. This meant the company could use the world-famous red rose logo on the backs of all its cards.

Unfortunately, Memory Lane did not escape the 1987 recession and nearly folded in the devastating 1997 Asian economic crisis. However, thanks to backing from American Greetings, it managed to pull through the hard times.

“We would always be grateful to American Greetings for having the faith to convert our debt into shares and for writing guarantee letters to our banks,” says Koh.

In the following years, Memory Lane became a subsidiary of the American company and tried to overcome the drastic dip in sales and distribution. Koh and his team helped American Greetings set up its Japan creative studio and opened its first store in Tokyo. It also aided in its expansion into China.

“It was awesome seeing long queues of people wanting to look at, touch and buy greeting cards when we opened the store in Beijing,” recalls Wong. “The cards were kept inside glass display cabinets like jewellery.”

In 2003, American Greetings sold Memory Lane back to the partners and the trio then worked on expanding its operations. Now, its cards are distributed in Gulf States, Canada, America, the United Kongdom and Japan. Memory Lane also has 85 distribution points in Hong Kong.

Expressing emotions

Memory Lane produces over 35 million greeting cards each year. The chain of stores also carries stuffed toys and gifts.

“We saw the need to evolve the way we sell greeting cards,” explains Yeoh.

“Birthday cards, for example, cater to different types of people. Take fathers for example – you have young dads, older dads, urban dads and single dads and messages speak to them differently. Mums are even more varied and individual. Some love the old-fashioned floral designs and heartfelt poems, others like one-liner messages.

“Women still form 80% of consumers,’’ she says.

Different geographical locations and demographics have varying buying patterns too.

“For example, at our Suria KLCC store, where tourists, expatriates and urban shoppers converge, we offer funky, upbeat messages such as ‘You Are The Coolest Grandma’ or birthday cards with playful pictures like six beer cans with the words ‘Stick this to your chest, you finally got your six pack’!

“But at our Jaya Jusco display in Wangsa Maju in KL, we offer more conservative messages in our cards to cater to a different group of consumers.”

Festive greeting cards are designed one year in advance and the new designs are highly creative.

“I still remember 20 years ago, we used to have to poke the holes by hand to have decorative windows on the card,” Wong says.

“An early design was a Chinese New Year card that opened with a clattering sound that resembling a firecracker. That effect was thanks to a piece of cardboard glued by hand to create the scratching sound when you open it!”

Have digital advancements and electronic greetings posed a threat to Memory Lane’s business?

“We have not seen a decline in sales, as we believe expressing one’s self is not as easy as it sounds,” explains Yeoh.

“We used to have Create-A-Card machines where people could customise their cards at our stores and wait for them to be printed. It was initially a great idea but then we realised people would freeze when it came to penning their messages.

“Expressing ourselves is not an easy thing to do. As such, ready-made greetings are still important,” Yeoh says.

At its highly popular outlet in Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur, a constant flow of customers busily browse through the array of musical boxes, bouquets of fabric roses and some make a beeline for the soft toys.

However, it is evident that Memory Lane’s heart still lies in its abundant variety of greeting cards. And as long as people all over the world continue to celebrate special occasions, its cards will be there to make the moment all the more meaningful!