A ‘Giant’ legacy in Malaysia’s retail scene

Suffice to say, Teng not only established his reputation as a pioneer of the hypermarket format in our country, but also continued to disrupt the sector with his innovative retail grocery chain model.

AROUND 15 years ago, I accompanied my father for grocery shopping at a new outlet instead of the usual hypermarket.

It was conveniently located by the service road connecting Tropicana to Bandar Utama near our house. A bright sign, which was red, green, and white, stood out despite it not being a household name yet at that time.

Upon arriving at the store, security guards were busy directing customers into the parking lot and guiding others to exit. It was a relatively seamless process.

We entered the outlet and saw rows of various prominent fast-moving consumer goods brands (imported or local) lined up tidily along the racks.

The variety was wide-ranging and of high quality despite the store being in a smaller format compared to the hypermarket we usually frequented. After picking up our necessities, we moved to the payment counter and the queue was swift as the cashier processed quickly. In and out, my father and I took less than 30 minutes.

Inflection point

On the way back home, my father said, “It looks like Jaya Grocer will be doing very well in the years to come. It is so convenient; even if I must pay more for the convenience and selection, I wouldn’t mind.”

Trust me when I say this is an important statement, considering that my father is of thrifty Hokkien descent. In hindsight, that moment was likely an inflection point in the retail grocery market. It marked the beginning of the decline of large-format hypermarkets and the rise of the retail grocery chain. Leading this disruption was none other than Teng Yew Huat.

Teng was the co-founder of the popular Giant hypermarket chain along with his elder brother Francis Teng and other siblings. He is also the founder of Jaya Grocer, widely regarded as the most successful retail grocery chain in the country. It was not Teng’s first foray into the business. It was probably in the DNA that the Teng family has continued to thrive in the retail-grocery sector.

The family’s history in the business dates back to 1944, when the family’s patriarch, Teng Sek How, opened a store on Jalan Sentul in Kuala Lumpur. The siblings would later set up Teng minimarkets, Teng Minimarket Centre (TMC) and Giant Hypermarket.

In 1999, Hong Kong-based Dairy Farm International (known today as DFI Retail Group) purchased both TMC and the Giant. The family, in effect, cashed out from their business venture decades back.

However, the entrepreneurial spirit did not stop there. Soon after establishing Central Hypermarket along Old Klang Road, Teng founded Jaya Grocer. Even Hero Market and Ace Hardware, which were not directly related to Teng, were started by Francis.

As Teng focused on building up Jaya Grocer’s footprint, it caught the attention of new private equity investors, AIGF Advisors, which acquired a 45% stake in Jaya Grocer in 2016 for Rm300mil. Mind you, this was only nine years since the first Jaya Grocer outlet started in 2007.

Then came 2021, when Teng repurchased the stake from AIGF before the Jaya Grocer chain was acquired by Grab Holdings Ltd 17 days later for a rumoured record price of Rm1.8bil. This incredible streak of entrepreneurial endeavours is remarkable by any standards.

Suffice to say, Teng not only established his reputation as a pioneer of the hypermarket format in our country but also continued to disrupt the sector with his innovative retail grocery chain model.

This has cemented both his and his family’s significant role in the historical development of Malaysia’s retail grocery industry.

My word, my bond

“There are many characteristics of a successful entrepreneur. One of the traits which best describe Teng would be his honour as a businessman,” said Yap Kong Meng, executive director of Deloitte Malaysia, a key adviser to Teng who handled the Jaya Grocer sales transaction twice.

“Whenever he instructs us to commence our professional work, our team would not hesitate to start even before we finalise the paperwork because we know he will honour his word. My word is my bond, that is how Teng operated.

“Another interesting anecdote about Teng is how he leads by example. In the early stage when we were conducting store visits with him for due diligence purposes, if he saw some trolleys lying around the parking lot or outside of the shop, he would personally go and push the trolley back to the outlet himself.

“As a result, I noticed this practice being adopted by his employees. Even his oldest son, Daniel Teng, who is in the business, does the same during store visits. One minute he is talking to me, another minute he is gone pushing trolleys back into the shop.”

Currently, Jaya Grocer employs more than 2,000 people of all races, with a significant majority being local employees. Impressively, there are hundreds of employees who have been working with Teng for decades.

These long-serving staff members started with Teng during the Giant days, and even after Giant was sold to Dairy Farm, they sought out Teng and continued to work with him in his new ventures, such as Jaya Grocer, to this day.

K. Kanthan, the general manager who speaks fluent Cantonese, has been with Jaya Grocer for more than 30 years. He said, “Teng treats us all like family, and we enjoy working with him because he takes care of us. Even those who have reached retirement age or need a job, Teng will give them employment as customer service representatives to help them out.”

“Teng always taught us to respect suppliers. Suppliers must make a profit and survive. Payment to suppliers must be on time. If suppliers do well, we will do well too. Also, Teng allows refunds without questions if a customer is dissatisfied. It is at the bottom of the receipt and this way it will not hold up the queue”, added Hans Ong, an 11-year veteran with Jaya Grocer who is the category manager.

From my conversations with many fellow suppliers of Jaya Grocer, they all said they enjoy doing business with Teng because he wasn’t mercenary like other hypermarkets or retail grocery chains that charge exorbitant listing fees upfront.

It is not easy for them to enter large hypermarkets or retail grocery chains. Teng gave them the opportunity and a big break in life.

Pivotal personality

Behind every interesting business story, there’s always a pivotal personality or key figure. With the untimely passing of Teng in February, I felt imperative to write about his story.

It’s for the countless readers who have likely shopped for their daily necessities in his outlets, yet may not know the incredibly brilliant and extremely humble man behind the retail grocery chain. His contributions have brought immense joy and happiness to many households.

Teng’s success in life extends far beyond mere financial achievements. He serves as a remarkable role model for many young entrepreneurs, demonstrating how to build a solid business from scratch and conducting business with integrity. Doing what you know and doing it well. Despite being a billionaire, he was neither ostentatious nor did he seek titles.

At his funeral, an overwhelming number of visitors paid their respects, with condolence flowers filling the entire entrance hall. Among them were not only suppliers supported by his business over the years but also his competitors.

The respect he garnered stemmed not from his wealth, but from the way he lived his life. Teng was indeed a titan of the industry, and his legacy will continue to resonate with the countless families who enjoy their weekend grocery shopping in his stores.