THEY may have been around for years, but the future for traditional sundry shops is looking bleak as many are expected to close with the influx of newer supermarkets.

While some are hanging on because of their regular customers, that trend is expected to end with stiff competition from the likes of KK Mart, 99 Speedmart and other more appealing stores.

The introduction of modern supermarkets is not their only problem as many are facing succession planning issues, high rental rates and other cost-related issues.

For As-Sakhiya mini market owner Abdul Alim Sidique Zakariah, 59, it is has been an uphill battle trying to keep his shop afloat.

He said in the last two years, five sundry shops in the Taman Melawati area had closed down because they were struggling to survive.

“Since three years ago, my sales had dropped by 30%. There used to be a lot of shops here, but all have closed down. Now, my outlet is the only sundry shop left in the area,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Alim said they have been providing additional services to their customers such as home delivery in order to survive

“The advantage we have over the modern supermarkets is that we have regulars coming to our shop. We also do delivery service for items that are more than RM50,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Wholesalers and Retailers Muslim Association of Malaysia (Mawar) has introduced a scheme for owners to buy items in bulk in order to get a cheaper price.

Mawar adviser Bazeer Ahmed said most of the owners prefer to go for non-perishable goods that can last up to six months.

“With the emergence of supermarkets, sundry shops are finding it difficult to compete with them. While the supermarkets have the financial strength to buy 1,000 boxes, we can only afford to buy 200.

“That is why we have encouraged the owners to combine their resources and buy their goods in bulk and distribute it among themselves.

“For example, when baby formula, canned products, soy sauce and other items are bought in bulk, it is much cheaper,” he said.

As-Syakirin mini market owner Shukriah Mat Ali, 46, who has been operating her shop for the last 20 years said some of the items sold in his shop are not available in the modern supermarkets.

“We sell rare stuff that supermarkets don’t sell, such as camphor (for the dead).

“We have also have a lorry, so every morning we buy fresh vegetables and chicken from the market. We try to provide fresh produce for our customers,” she said.

Shukriah added that in order to keep the business going, she has to train her children on how to run the shop so that one day they will inherit the business.

“We had some issues before with some unscrupulous employees and we wanted to end the business. But that was in the past.

“In order to survive we can’t trust anyone except our children to manage the place. We also cannot rely solely on our workers, as we must always also know what’s going on in the shop,” she said.

Providing good service

Federation of Sundry Goods Merchants Association of Malaysia president Hong Chee Meng understands that the shops are not doing well and has advised his member to focus on providing better services.

“Now, it is all about providing good service and not about selling goods if they want to keep afloat.

“We have advised our members to be as humble as possible. Don’t be rude and eventually their new customers will become their loyal customers,” he said.

Hong said the association has about 4,000 members nationwide.

He said their main advice to their members is to focus on operating only one or two shops to survive.

“Some of our members have more than two shops and they are struggling to compete with the other modern outlets.

“The main issue is their overheads. They have to not only pay their salary, buy stock, but there are also water and electricity bills. In order to survive, they have to reduce the number of outlets,” he said.

Hong also admitted that the succession problem was another issue.

“Out of our 4,000 members only, 20% of their family members have adopted the business. Most of them are from Kelantan, Kuantan and Terengganu. If their children don’t take over, more shops are expected to close. The only way out is to sell their business and retire.”

Not so-bright future

Economist Dr Hoo Kee Ping said it will be difficult for sundry shops to survive in the current economic state.

He said that many are ending their businesses because their children don’t want to continue the family business.

“The children just don’t want to take up the task of running a sundry shop. The youth are now looking for more white-collar jobs.

“Another issue is that the older generation are the ones who are frequenting the sundry shops. When they die, the younger generation are not going to go to the shops. They prefer to go to the more modern-looking stores,” he said.

Hoo said the other issue plaguing the owners is the high rental rates in urban areas, which had increased two- to three-fold in the last 10 years.

“In the city, the rental is more than RM20,000. How are they going to survive? In the suburbs it is about RM10,000, but the rental keeps increasing.

“We are talking about in the suburbs, where in Overseas Union Garden on Jalan Klang Lama there used to be 20 shops, now there are only five.”

Hoo added that traditional medicinal shops may buck the trend.

“They know that in order to survive, they will have to change the type of business they do. This has taken place in the last 20 years.

“Some of the shops in outskirts of the city will be able to survive because they have a symbiotic relationship with the customers and very minimal competition from the supermarkets.

“Another reason is because they can still give credit to their customers. You can’t get credit from a supermarket.” – June 27, 2017.