CYC is a clothing firm best known for its custom-made shirts and corporate workwear. Founded as CYC Shanghai Shirt Company in 1935, it was a leader in Singapore’s shirt industry and attracted customers from Malaysia and Indonesia during its heyday. Now known as CYC The Custom Shop, it has an extensive client list including international and corporate clients, and leaders in the political and business fields.
Background
In the 1930s, Chiang Chin Fook and his wife Foo Ah Neok operated a shop offering custom-made shirts in Swatow, China. Chiang, originally from Ningbo, cut the fabric while Foo worked as the seamstress. After the birth of their second son, they decided to migrate to Singapore to seek better opportunities. In 1935, the couple set up a tailor’s shop on Hill Street before moving to Selegie Road shortly afterwards. Chiang also went by the alias Chiang Yick Ching, the initials of which contributed to the company name, CYC Shanghai Shirt Company.
Chiang passed away in the 1940s and management of the shop passed to his wife Foo, who was later joined by her sons Chiang Sing Choo and Chiang Ping Choo. In the 1960s, the young brothers launched a campaign to promote CYC’s custom-made shirts that proved to be very popular. Orders flooded in at their shop and in bulk from department stores. To keep up with orders, CYC set up a small factory in a shophouse at Middle Road, and when this proved to be insufficient, a new factory at Wilkie Road.
Rise to prominence
As CYC became well known, customers came from Malaysia and Indonesia to have shirts made at CYC. The company also became known for supplying shirts to political and business leaders, including Singapore’s first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. In the 1960s, CYC became a private limited company, with Foo as the company’s chairman, Ping Choo as managing director and Sing Choo as director. The company also began producing readymade shirts, and its outlets at Selegie Road and North Bridge Road were among the first stores in Singapore to be air-conditioned.
By the 1970s, CYC had six stores around Singapore, and opened a five-storey, $2.2 million factory at MacPherson Road. At the time, the facility was one of the most advanced garment factories in the country, employing several hundred workers and automated production processes, and with a production capacity of 20,000 shirts a month. In 1973, CYC started exporting shirts to Indonesia and Australia through trading house Guthrie. At its peak, the company brought in around $6 million in annual sales and had shops in Tanglin Shopping Centre, High Street, Circular Road, Katong and Thomson, together with its Selegie and North Bridge Road outlets.
Decline
The first signs of a decline in business came soon after the opening of the factory at MacPherson. In 1973, CYC suffered a financial loss and had difficulties recruiting workers. The company contemplated selling its new factory as overheads were high and customer demand was less than production capacity. Rumours also spread that the company faced bankruptcy due to financial difficulties, although CYC denied this. The company continued to receive overseas orders and was thus able to maintain production and sales.
By the early 1980s, however, CYC faced competition from new brands that offered contemporary designs and spent heavily on advertising. New shirtmakers flooded the market and drove prices down. Garment chains like Heshe and 2nd Chance emerged, taking market share from CYC. CYC’s image suffered as the next generation of customers perceived the brand as old-fashioned. Its reputation for quality was also hurt by regular warehouse sales of unsold shirts, and counterfeit CYC shirts cannibalised its trade overseas. An economic recession from 1983 to 1984 and an exit tax on Indonesian tourists, who represented a significant proportion of CYC’s customer base, made the situation worse.
By 1992, CYC’s retail chain had shrunk to two shops and sales had fallen to around 20,000 shirts annually, a number that the company had sold each month a decade before.
Change in leadership
Despite mounting problems, the Chiang brothers trusted that the company could still grow on the strength of its reputation, without a need for rebranding or innovation. However, Chiang Ping Choo passed away in April 1992, and his brother Sing Choo became too ill to work soon after. A family meeting to decide on the leadership of the business resulted in a strong vote of confidence for Fong Loo Fern, Sing Choo’s daughter. The eldest of the Chiang brothers’ grandchildren, Fong had helped out on the CYC shopfloor since the age of 12. After graduating from the National University of Singapore with an accountancy degree, she had joined CYC in 1977. She had raised the need for the company to update its merchandise and shop layout, but met with resistance from her father and uncle. In 1985, she had left CYC and joined the United States Department of Commerce before returning to CYC in 1992.
One of Fong’s first major decisions was to sell the MacPherson factory, which was too large for the company’s workforce, for $7.2 million. CYC also closed its shops at Selegie Road and North Bridge Road as the areas were slated for redevelopment. The company moved to new premises at Genting Lane housing its headquarters and a new factory.
With the funds from the factory sale, Fong engaged business consultants to draw up a long-term strategy for the company and a design consultancy to revamp its image, including a new logo and look for its retail outlets. A main thrust of CYC’s new strategy was to refocus on its custom tailoring roots. The company’s division producing readymade shirts was jettisoned to save costs. A new flagship store was opened at Raffles Hotel.
CYC also focused on attracting more corporate clients, with a new division manufacturing workwear for companies such as the Conrad and Raffles hotel groups, Takashimaya and the Central Provident Fund. Corporate workwear made up nearly 50% of the company’s turnover in 2002.
Initiatives
The company’s new initiatives included a push for more exports and overseas outlets, and a move into tailoring workwear for women and mobile tailoring services. In addition, a new store at Republic Plaza contributed to annual growth of about 10% from 2000. In 2005, CYC received a Singapore Promising Brand Award for brand communication. In the same year, the company set up its first overseas office and showroom in London. Customers can now also purchase custom-tailored shirts via the company's website. In 2009, the divisions of corporate workwear, menswear and womenswear each had almost equal weighting in CYC’s overall business.
Author
Alvin Chua
References
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(Call no.: RSING 959.57003 SIN - [HIS])
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The information in this article is valid as at 2010 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
