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Cheap Lab opened its second ___location at [[Cheung Sha Wan Road]] in Sham Shui Po. As the company was able to attract a wider range of customers owing to the shop's ___location on a busy street, the company expanded the types of products it sold to include more types of stationery, household items and smartphone accessories. So met Law Ka-cheung, her current husband, in 2016;<ref>{{cite web |author1=鄺月婷 |title=【執笠倉】3萬儲蓄起家 5年狂開10間舖 老闆娘親解「達陣」經過 |url=https://www.hk01.com/%E5%B0%88%E9%A1%8C%E4%BA%BA%E8%A8%AA/314366/%E5%9F%B7%E7%AC%A0%E5%80%89-3%E8%90%AC%E5%84%B2%E8%93%84%E8%B5%B7%E5%AE%B6-5%E5%B9%B4%E7%8B%82%E9%96%8B10%E9%96%93%E8%88%96-%E8%80%81%E9%97%86%E5%A8%98%E8%A6%AA%E8%A7%A3-%E9%81%94%E9%99%A3-%E7%B6%93%E9%81%8E |website=HK01 |accessdate=19 December 2019 |language=zh-HK |date=9 April 2019}}</ref> Law's parents founded stationery wholesaler Tung Fong Stationery Co. and operated the company for 30 years. Law joined Cheap Lab as a shareholder, injecting capital and introducing new sources for [[procuring]] products, such as by bypassing wholesalers and [[Parallel import|directly importing]] products from a Korean manufacturer. The company opened six new locations in 2016. As of 2018, the company operated ten locations in Hong Kong. ''[[Ming Pao]]'' attributed the rapid expansion of the company to its Chinese name 執笠倉 which gives the impression of a constant [[Closeout (sale)|clearance sale]], its strategy of importing products and leasing shops, and allowing retail staff to manage and interact with customers on the company's Facebook fan page.<ref name="MP"/>
As of 2019, customers spend an average of HK$20 per purchase at Cheap Lab. The company trialed the sale of higher-priced products in 2019, though So noted that customers were generally unwilling to purchase products priced above HK$50. Rent constitutes 20-30% of the company's costs, higher than most retailers.<ref>{{cite web |author1=梁子謙 |title=「執笠平貨」吸客人均消費約20元 執笠倉：做貼地雜貨店 |url=https://ps.hket.com/article/2306039 |website=Hong Kong Economic Times |accessdate=19 December 2019 |language=zh-HK |date=3 April 2019}}</ref> To reduce costs, the company usually selects shops with both a ground floor and an upper or basement floor, with a combined area larger than 1500 square feet to accommodate multiple types of products. The company said it had difficulty expanding into shopping malls despite its size because most mall operators were unwilling to accept branding the store "執笠", which literally means "going out of business".<ref>{{cite web |title=為進駐商場 另起新店名「幸丸」 |url=https://www.mpfinance.com/fin/daily2.php?node=1553797166247&issue=20190329 |website=Ming Pao |accessdate=19 December 2019 |language=zh-HK |date=29 March 2019}}</ref> In addition to founding Cheap Lab, So also founded online baby products retailer Little Monster in 2019, with an initial investment of HK$100,000. In explaining why she decided to start a new brand instead of selling baby products in Cheap Lab locations, she explained that as a mother herself, she felt that the environment inside Cheap Lab stores was not suitable for the sales of baby products.<ref>{{cite web |author1=梁子謙 |title=執笠倉原班人馬10萬搞母嬰產品網店 7嫂：以媽媽角度入貨 |url=https://ps.hket.com/article/2306040/%E5%9F%B7%E7%AC%A0%E5%80%89%E5%8E%9F%E7%8F%AD%E4%BA%BA%E9%A6%AC10%E8%90%AC%E6%90%9E%E6%AF%8D%E5%AC%B0%E7%94%A2%E5%93%81%E7%B6%B2%E5%BA%97%207%E5%AB%82%EF%BC%9A%E4%BB%A5%E5%AA%BD%E5%AA%BD%E8%A7%92%E5%BA%A6%E5%85%A5%E8%B2%A8 |website=Hong Kong Economic Times |accessdate=19 December 2019 |language=zh-HK |date=4 April 2019}}</ref>
==References==
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