Graphic All In Store: Cagayan de Oro’s pride

The Graphic All In Store is a story of triumph of the human spirit over adversity. It is also the story of how one man’s indomitable will had triumphed over the difficulties that would have discouraged other men, but not so with Roger Chiu. The Graphic success story is the life story of Roger Chiu.

The Graphic story started with a simple buy and sell business operations of mostly dry goods and ready to wear apparel. This was in the 1980’s.

At that time, the business was managed by Roger’s father. Today, Graphic is a fully diversified business engaged in the sale of mobile phones and electronics gadgets. It also has substantial investments in the food and beverage businesses operating several restaurants in Cagayan de Oro City. Roger’s latest addition to his expanding business interest is an upscale hotel, the Mulberry Hotel.

The transition and growth of Graphics may have been spectacular, but it did not happen overnight. There was no quick shift from its original merchandise inventory. It was a gradual change and the credit for this gradual shift from the more traditional way of engaging in business to the more aggressive and consumer driven one goes to Roger.

In the 1990’s, management of the family business moved from the father, to the two younger sons, Roger and Edward. With just one store to manage and with no previous experience, Roger and Edward did what they had to do and to do it well. The shift from the simple buy and sell business to its present core business reflects a management style that is at once consumer-driven and sensitive to market trends.

But perhaps, what the brothers consider as the turning point in the business operations and their boldest move was when they decided to change the name of their store for which they have been known for close to 30 years to the name they carry at present –Graphic All In Store. It was a bold move on their part, but recent events have shown that the change in name has been a decisive factor in their success.

The company’s history is closely intertwined with the business life of Cagayan de Oro City.

Graphic has always been of service to the communities which has nurtured it. In turn, Graphic has practically contributed to the development of trade and commerce in the region. It has also provided livelihood to a number of people.

There are several challenges confronting Graphic at present. These are management, supply, supplier relations and marketing but the more important issue facing Graphic today is management-related, on how the company can cope with its rapid growth.

When they were just starting, they only had a handful of people, now that business is booming they have to face the fact that most of their frontline and middle managers have been with the company for two years or less. They can’t afford to be complacent. Thus, management is still directly done and shared by Roger and Edward.

In the meantime, they have to manage their time well between an expanding core business and substantial new ventures. Problems related to the supply and marketing aspects continue to crop up. The mobile phone-related market is highly competitive with a number of new products and models coming out almost everyday. Their alliance with major distributors through joint marketing distribution venture has shown that they can hurdle competition.

As the CEO, Roger considers the implementation Graphic’s organizational development program, as his most important responsibility. This is in line with the program of fast tracking the development of an effective management time while maintaining the company philosophy of creating consumer satisfaction by offering the best products available, at the best prices.

With characteristic humility, Roger readily admits that he may have limited academic training, but he makes up for it by his sharp business acumen. He considers himself a street smart entrepreneur. Roger has also a knack for inspiring people to do their best. He expects people to do their best and expects himself to do the same.