Cheap Lab: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:22, 19 December 2019

Revision as of 16:23, 19 December 2019

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| website = {{URL|https://www.cheaplab.hk/}}

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'''Cheap Lab''' ({{zh|執笠倉}}) is a retail chain of [[stationery]] and [[household goods]] in [[Hong Kong]]. The company was founded in 2014 by So Hiu-fan soon after she [[Legal separation|separated]] from her ex-husband. So opened the company's first ___location in a 40-square-foot space in the Apple Mall section of the [[Dragon Centre]] shopping mall in [[Sham Shui Po]], which she leased for {{currency|3000|HKD}} per month, soon after she [[Legal separation|separated]] from her ex-husband. The store initially sold low-cost jewellery and a small amount of stationery purchased online from mainland China, with teenage schoolgirls being its main target audience. Later that year, So expanded the store by leasing ten shop spaces in the Apple Mall, giving a total area between 300 and 400 square feet, and rebranded the store "Cheap Lab" along with introducing its logo.<ref name="MP">{{cite web |author1=薛偉傑 |title=打執笠旗號 執笠倉成文具店新貴 創辦人堅守初衷——毋須賺到盡 |url=https://www.mpfinance.com/fin/daily2.php?node=1553797164702&issue=20190329 |website=Ming Pao |accessdate=19 December 2019 |language=zh-HK |date=29 March 2019}}</ref>

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"/>