Metrojaya Berhad

Metrojaya Berhad

Metrojaya Berhad is a public limited company that has been established since 1974. Currently, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Metrojaya Berhad is Dato' Ahmad Khairummuzammil bin Mohd Yusoff. Ever since the opening of Metrojaya Berhad's first pilot Departmental Store in 1976 at the Pertama Complex in Kuala Lumpur, the Metrojaya chain has established a sound reputation for itself of being the leader among the Malaysian retailing industry, offering wide range of products in terms of fashion lifestyle apparel and merchandises that are exclusive yet affordable.

Since then, Metrojaya group has four departmental stores and over fifty specialty stores nationwide. It has been a competitive part in the specialty sector with the debut of "Toys 'R' Us" in October 1987, "East India Company" in November 1989, "Reject shop" in July 1990, "Living Quarters" in August 1994, "Somerset Bay" in August 1994 and commenced operation under the La Senza Girl franchise in January 2002. The group has also operates one hypermarket store under the Cosmart name at the Bukit Jambul Complex in Penang.

Providing their customers with the best services and the greatest shopping experience has always been the criterion of the Metrojaya group's mission. Although they are profit orientated organization, their main aim is to stay in business and provide jobs opportunities to Malaysians. Over the years in retail industry, Metrojaya's achievement in increasing their customer line and expanding its range of lifestyle goods has made it been recognized as the frontrunner in Malaysia's modern retail industry

Since its establishment in 1974, Metrojaya has been the leading retail group in Malaysia with a rigid fundamental of capitals and has gained strong assurance from the governments in Malaysia. Although Malaysia is a country with pro-business sentiment, political stability among the country and foreign countries still plays a major role in deciding the rise and fall of Metrojaya as a retail group. For instance, the war in Iraq has greatly affected the trade between Malaysia and United States of America. Conflicts arose and due to political issues, US might restrict the trade between Malaysian companies and American companies. Metrojaya would be greatly affected as specialty stores under Metrojaya Berhad such as Reject Shop are highly dependent

on American and European companies for the off-season apparel stocks.

Besides that, in Malaysia there are many rules and regulations that affect the retailing industry. For example, taxes are charged on imported products and this affects the decision made on the pricing system of Metrojaya's products as most of its products are from foreign countries. Besides that, as part of the government effort to promote locally made products and increase economic growth in Malaysia, the government had imposed a quota on goods displayed on departmental store to ensure reasonable shelf space is given to Malaysian manufacturers. Operating hours of Metrojaya's chains stores have also been standardized by the ministry. Many of the decisions of Metrojaya Berhad fall under the supervision of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Affairs as well.

Trends and customs in Malaysia are also the factors that Metrojaya Berhad concerned the most. Malaysia is a multi-racial country with Malays, Chinese, and Indians as the three major ethnic groups. During certain seasons such as the Chinese New Year celebration, Metrojaya group would try to increase their sales by emphasis on Chinese traditional apparels and red-coloured products as red colour indicates prosperities in the Chinese society. Besides that, the dressing code in Malaysia is slightly different from other countries. Modest type apparels are popular among the Muslims and with the warm and humid weather in Malaysia, Metrojaya has been prioritizing on the sale of apparels made of cottons that breathes better in warm weather.

Besides that, the shopping habits among the Malaysians are different. Chinese are much more pricing conscious and thus tends to look for bargains. Therefore, Metrojaya has divided its product line into few parts which targets the middle-income consumers and the higher-income consumers. Consumer preference and tastes change over time. Therefore, Metrojaya's Marketing Department had to observe on the current demand of the consumers in order to increase their sales. Currently, the products that are sold in Metrojaya's chains of stores are mostly from western countries as Malaysians are becoming more westernized and cosmopolitan. Metrojaya has been successful in increasing its sale as Malaysians have an open demand for foreign brands.

Since millennium, the number of internet users in Malaysia has tremendously increased and E-Commerce has gained popularity among the Malaysians. Since then, Metrojaya has launched their business into the World Wide