Everyone that loves spending money at a low price would come across MR. D.I.Y. The retail company, MR D.I.Y Group (M) Berhad, was founded 16 years ago, in 2005, by Tan Yu Yeh. MR. DOLLAR and MR. TOY may sound like MR. D.I.Y. This is because the two are subsidiaries of Mr. D.I.Y. Mr. Toy was found in 2019 and Mr. Dollar the year after.
The Beginning
All businesses start small and gradually increase and expand their business into a bigger reach. When Tan Yu Yeh first founded Mr. D.I.Y., it started as a single hardware store at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.
Mall Outlets
At the end of the year, it had opened three more outlets. Five years after that, in 2010, Mr. D.I.Y expanded to work with large retailers like Giant, AEON, and Tesco. Now, it's quite hard not to find Mr. D.I.Y as you walk in any mall across the country.
Overseas Expansion
Four years after, the business kept on booming at a rapid speed that it even expanded out to the neighboring country in Malaysia such as Brunei. Mr. D.I.Y.'s slogan or tagline “Always Low Prices” is what captures the customers’ attention.
" We looked at successful businesses in developed countries for inspiration. For instance, we found that in Japan, healthy competition in the market kept prices low, which was a means of attracting customers. It was a good lesson. - Andy Chin, Marketing VP at Mr. D.I.Y in an interview with The Star (2016)."
E-Commerce
In 2018, MR. D.I.Y. launched its e-commerce website. Making it easier for customers to shop if they don't feel like stepping outside their house. And it is very convenient now that we are in a pandemic. It helped them as they can let employees work off the online orders that still bring in revenue to the business.
Mr Toys
The year after, 2019, MR. D.I.Y launched a new business, MR. TOY, opened in Tesco Rawang, Selangor. Combined with Mr. D.I.Y.'s slogan, Mr. Toy's "Always Low Prices, Always Fun" reflects on the company's target audience, children. And Mr. Toy sticks to its slogan as their company's mission.
Even for a kid's focus, Mr. Toy has a wide range of categories too. From costumes to games or art and crafts. It was planned that Mr. Toy will be opening 10 stores first and the last one is at Toppen Shopping Center in Johor.
Mr Dollar
Mr. D.I.Y. did not stop expanding its business just by opening Mr. Toy. In the middle of a pandemic, 2020, Mr. D.I.Y. pursued to launch another new business, Mr. Dollar. Its first shop was opened in Cheras. But it can also be found in Midvalley South Key, Johor.
The concept was inspired by a dollar-concept store except that Mr. Dollar provides products at a fixed price of RM2 or RM5. Because it is still quite new, we don't hear many people talk about it, but it will surely have rapid popularity once the pandemic is over, and people get to go to the shop.
Unlike Mr. D.I.Y., Mr. Dollar's products include a bit more categories, like groceries, drinks, bakery, and other edible products.
Low Cost
Mr. D.I.Y primarily focuses on different categories of items at a low range of price where it is affordable for everyone to purchase with their own budget set. Mr. Toy focuses on children all over Malaysia with their home-grown toys. Lastly, Mr. Dollar has the same concept as Mr. D.I.Y, but the difference between the two is that Mr. Dollar only provides the items of different categories at two prices- RM2 and RM5.
Even in the pandemic, the business has no signs of slowing down as MR. D.I.Y. Group (M) Berhad’s market capitalization is at RM10 billion making it more valuable than Malaysia's airport operator (MAS). It is said to believe they are aiming to open more outlets by the end of this year, 2021.