KUALA LUMPUR: In May 2013, shortly after the spin-off of the department store operations in China and Asean into separate listed entities in Hong Kong and Singapore, Datuk Alfred Cheng Yoong Choong announced that he was stepping down as group managing director of both Parkson Retail Group Ltd and Parkson Retail Asia Ltd.

But since November last year, Cheng has re-emerged in the local retail scene as new co-owner and group managing director of Sogo (KL) Department Store Sdn Bhd (SKLDS). His comeback has been well received by trade partners and former employees, some of whom are already working in the company. They include SKLDS chief executive officer Toh Peng Koon, its chief operating officer Raymond Teo Kheng San and senior general manager of marketing communications Ronnie Tan.

Cheng recently sat down to talk about his comeback plans with The Edge Financial Daily (TEFD). Here are excerpts:

TEFD: You are coming back to the local retail scene at a time when the industry is slowing down and malls are struggling with too much retail space. Does that put you at a disadvantage?

Cheng: No, I believe I came back [from a career break] at a very good time. I did not plan for this [to happen]. I think I am very lucky [because] I can use this downtime to make improvements [to Sogo Kuala Lumpur]. I come in with fresh capital, a fresh set of ideas and a team that is eager to share my passion to develop the department store chain further. And obviously when I decided to make a comeback, I wasn’t looking at the immediate one- or two-year time frame. I am looking at the next five years, 10 years and beyond. Indeed, this is as good a time as any to re-enter the industry because it gives me time to negotiate good sites [for new stores]. So far, I have been met with a lot of support, be it from people in the trade or [property] developers who want to work with me.

I will also have time to get our foundation right within our existing business, upgrade our [Sogo Kuala Lumpur] store and build up competencies within our team to tackle future developments.

How did Tan Sri William Cheng Heng Jem, chairman and managing director of Parkson Group, who is also your uncle, react to your comeback? Do you see Parkson and Sogo engaging in head-on competition?

I had a successful career with Parkson and I appreciate the opportunity that Tan Sri William Cheng gave me. During my tenure with Parkson, he and the board supported my business strategies and the vision I had for the company. That’s why we were able to build a successful business together. But my direction is different now with Sogo. I believe that my strategies [and] how I look at the industry going forward are a bit different from before because I am looking at bigger [department] stores, with each store being more of a social destination rather than just an avenue for distribution of products. Of course, we will meet each other in competition but there will be some differences.

I respect him as my uncle and I told him that I was going into Sogo. My decision to come back has got nothing to do with Parkson. I saw this entry via Sogo as a very good foundation to build the business I have in mind for the next five years. My passion for retail didn’t diminish in the two and a half years that I was away.

Where do you see yourself taking SKLDS?

Four to five years down the road, the aim is to do an initial public offering. The additional capital [raised] coupled with the cash reserves we expect to generate will allow us to look at overseas expansion, as well as acquire some of the space that we operate in or a stake in some regional or global brands that we can work with to leverage and create synergies within the group. In terms of overseas expansion, the countries that we are interested in are the Philippines, Indonesia and Indochina.

But in the next five years, our aim is to build up our Sogo and Seibu brands as the best department store brands in the country. We must also build up our team here so that they can support our future overseas expansion. Currently, SKLDS employs 800 people, but we expect the figure to grow to more than 2,000 by 2020.

How did your family view your return to the corporate world? Are there concerns you may slip back into a hectic pace of life, with no time for them?

I must say that my wife has been very supportive of my re-entry into the retail industry because being an ex-fellow retailer herself, she sees the passion I have for the business. When the opportunity arose for me to participate, I must thank her because she gave me her full support. I promised myself I will never work like before. I tell myself that every five to six weeks, I will take one to two weeks off to spend some time in London with my children.