CzipLee Brothers Jason & Alvin Chen Share Business Lessons and Tips

Some brands invoke an immediate sense of familiarity and attachment, and CzipLee is one of them. As a family-owned business running for more than 50 years, the beloved stationery retailer has grown to become a cornerstone in many Malaysians’ lives, whether they’re shopping for school textbooks, the coolest new pens, or office supplies. 

CzipLee has grown tremendously from its origins as a humble sundry shop in Kajang, opened in 1968. Back then, the business was selling various knick-knacks such as sweets, newspapers, and limited stationery. 

Today, its flagship store in Bangsar spans 9,500 square feet and is home to some 70,000 curated products such as art supplies, lifestyle products, books, and printing services. The homegrown business has also evolved to be a major stationery distributor, housing stationery and books from the biggest names in the industry from around the world.

But that doesn’t mean that it has always been smooth sailing. In fact, the family-owned and run business was close to calling it quits several times after being hit with several tragedies, such as a series of flooding incidents in 2011, a huge fire outbreak in 2016, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which put their stores in a standstill. Not to mention, making stationery relevant to a society that increasingly prefers digital to analogue. So, how did they do it?

Ahead, we speak to CzipLee’s Executive Directors and brothers, Jason and Alvin Chen, on the building blocks of a successful family business, making hard decisions, and fostering community through stationery. 

Can you elaborate on each of your responsibilities in CzipLee?

Jason: I’m more involved in the finance and operations side, while Alvin does everything else. [laughs] Even though we don’t have a super-defined role, we each oversee certain things. Alvin is more on the branding, while I lean towards business development. We basically draw on our strengths to gel it all together. 

CzipLee has been around for more than 50 years. What do you think is key to sustaining a business such as yours for so long?

Alvin: Honestly, there is no secret formula to it. Behind it all, there’s a lot of hard work and tough decisions to be made. You really have to be agile to adapt to changes. COVID taught us a lot about how to be adaptive.

However, I think it also comes down to the core values on which our dad founded the business, and we hold them very dearly as we grow the business. Our father taught us to do everything with integrity, so that is extremely important to us.

Further, our philosophy is that when we come together in unity, there’s always strength in numbers. It’s in the very essence of the name “CzipLee”, which means the coming together of family in strength and unity. So, we always work collaboratively within our team to grow as a business.

J: Building on that point, another important factor is our connection with community, be it internally with the team or externally with our customers and suppliers. We try to form proper interpersonal relationships with them.

You mentioned having to be adaptive. What were some huge changes you had to make in CzipLee?

A: One thing that came out of COVID was a decision we made that I would consider pretty unorthodox for a traditionally Chinese business, which was to let go of our assets.

In Bangsar, we were paying off the bank for two buildings that we had, but two years into COVID, we had to make a corporate family decision that our dad found hard to accept at that time. Yes, it was a difficult choice, but it just didn’t make financial sense at that time. Why would you hold on to something when you can scale very differently?  

How did the transition from a sundry shop to a full-blown stationery store happen in CzipLee?

A: It happened with my parents. My dad started a little sundry shop at a corner lot, but over time, his brother came to help him with the business. Later, our mother joined, and she brought all the educational books with her, which was something CzipLee Kajang became very famous for. We would supply to schools all over Selangor as well as office supplies. 

In 1994, our parents consolidated stationery and books into a megastore in CzipLee Kajang. The four-storey outlet was the first of its kind in Kajang, and it’s still here to this day. When we came out to Bangsar in 2006, we essentially replicated what we did in Kajang. However, first year, we quickly realised that it wouldn’t work in this area and we had to adapt our operations according to the needs of customers in that area.

How did your own love for stationery form?

J: My DNA. [laughs] We were pretty much born into it, so it was bound to happen eventually! Our childhood was in the stores. After school, we would go straight there. I remember doing my homework behind the counters and taking naps there. 

A: It did have its perks, though. We had the biggest colour pencil sets in school and everyone would ogle at them! When the 48 coloured set came out, we were the first ones in school with it, which also turned out to be a great marketing tool for the store, actually, because our classmates would come to the store to get the same ones. [laughs]

Everyone says you shouldn’t mix personal with business. What are your thoughts on that sentiment as brothers working closely together?

A: You should and you shouldn’t. I can’t imagine how our parents did it because they had to go home and sleep in the same bed. Thankfully, I don’t sleep in the same bed as my brother!

Disagreements and conflicts will happen. Sometimes, when you go home, dinners are hard, but we try to leave it at work where we can. Likewise, whatever happens at home can translate back into work. I guess that’s the reality of what family businesses are. You can’t avoid it, but as long as you can figure out a way to set healthy and clear boundaries, you’re on the right track.

Do you have any tips to share for other family businesses?

J: One thing I’ve learned over the years is that communication is very important when you’re working with family. As Alvin mentioned, there’s always a grey area when it comes to personal and business, so there needs to be mutual respect. Our parents always taught us to have mutual respect for one another, regardless of whatever happens at home or at work. 

Another factor that really brings us together is the shared passion for what we’re doing. We know that we’re working towards a common goal for CzipLee, and we have the same vision. So, making sure you are on the same page with your business partner is really important.

What are some of your favourite memories formed in CzipLee?

A: A huge fire broke out at our store in 2006. Not a totally happy memory per se, but it’s one I hold close to me because of how the community came together to help us out. The night that the fire broke out, a lot of our customers in Bangsar came to help and check in on us. 

When we look back at how the community really supported us through that and even brought food for us, it was really nice, and we thought that we had to keep going. That’s always the main reason why we stayed in Bangsar. When we sold the building, we were looking at other areas, but we still came back. So in a way, it became a favourite memory for me.

J: For me, it’s seeing our customers bring their children or relatives back to the store. Our mom has always been the face of CzipLee Kajang. When she would visit the Bangsar branch, we had people recognising her and saying they bought books from her when they were kids. So seeing how multi-generational our customer base has become really puts a smile on our face. 

What are your opinions about Malaysia’s stationery business landscape, and how does CzipLee aim to offer a different type of experience for customers?

A: Overall, most stores are still doing traditional school and office supplies. Lately, there’s also been more lifestyle journaling shops, too, which is great to see. But with us, and you can see from our CzipVillage event this year with SoMe Market, it’s about continuing to be experimental and being the bridge between international and local brands for customers. 

SoMe Market and CzipVillage were ideas that we had to bring these little stationery makers in Malaysia together. Because we are an independent bookstore ourselves, it’s important for us to connect with other independent stationery shops and give them a platform to showcase their works where we can. 

J: We’re not a transactional business; we’re about curating experiences and personalising every journey for customers when they walk in. It’s our goal to make the flagship Bangsar store a ‘living room’ for the creative community. A space where people can come to just hang out, have a chat, and read some books leisurely and comfortably, like you would at your own home.

Lastly, what do you envision CzipLee’s legacy to be?

J: We want to take the lead in creativity and create an environment where the stationery and book community can come together. To be more inclusive, encourage creativity, community, and be a patron of the arts. We’re already doing this with events such as CzipVillage and working with SoMe Market, and we hope to do more in the future.

A: It’s hard to replicate this current concept, we feel. There’s a lot of detail that we’ve put into it that makes it more unique than other stores you see around. The store’s not perfect, but we strive to be the best version we can be. 

Today’s layout and version in Bangsar Village 2 is the closest one to the vision we’ve always had in mind in terms of the products, categories, and range. There’s a lot more to do here, shelves to fill, brands to bring in. That’s the everyday aspiration. Whatever we lack, we still give you the best that we can find. 

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