Our Story

Our Story

The story of POPULAR begins, naturally, with books.

In 1924, the founder of POPULAR Group, Mr Chou Sing Chu left the shores of China and came to Singapore. He established the Cheng Hing Company which specialised in picture and comic books. This was the early start of what is now the present POPULAR Group. A decade later, in 1934, World Book Company was established in Singapore to distribute Chinese books and publish Chinese magazines and books.

POPULAR Group is now a multifaceted congolomerate with businesses in a wide-ranginh number of sectors such as Retail, Publishing, Education & Training, Purchasing, e-Learning and more. Today, POPULAR now has over 100 retail stores in Singapore and Malaysia. It has been ranked among the Top 100 Brands in Singapore by Brand Finance for 4 consecutive years, from 2012 to 2015.

Our brand is deeply rooted in the rich culture of books and reading, and we are dedicated to upholding these values in everything we do. With a 100 years history, POPULAR has transformed into a multifaceted haven. Today, alongside shelves brimming with books, we offer a selection of lifestyle offerings.

Our Vision
To serve our people, to grow with our society and to mutually benefit from the world.

Our Mission
To be a leader and dynamic company. To provide value-for-money products and quality services to our customers, a pleasant working environment for people, and to be a good corporate citizen.

Milestones

1924

POPULAR's history began in Singapore, under the trade name Cheng Hing Company. It distributed Chinese storybooks and picture books, an early start of what is now the present POPULAR Group.

1934

World Book Company was established in Singapore to distribute Chinese books and publish Chinese magazines and books. It was widely recognized as one of the leading Chinese book publishers, retailers and distributors in Singapore and Malaysia.

1936

Popular Book Company was established in Singapore as a retail channel for Chinese books.

1949

World Publishing Company was established in Hong Kong, China to publish magazines and Chinese books for the local and Southeast Asian markets.

1980

POPULAR's flagship store opened at Bras Basah Complex. It marked POPULAR’s successful transformation into a bilingual bookstore. Today, POPULAR is the largest bookstore chain in Southeast Asia with over 100 retail stores in Singapore and Malaysia.

1990

The POPULAR loyalty card was introduced as part of its membership programme.

1996

Educational Publishing House (“EPH”) set up offices in Singapore, to publish textbooks and teaching materials for preschool and primary markets. Today, EPH is a dominant player and respected publisher of quality educational books, especially in terms of preschool and assessment titles.

2001

Popular e-Learning Holdings Pte Ltd was incorporated in Singapore to provide content-rich, digital educational products and online services.

2006

POPULAR Bookstore successfully organised the inaugural BookFest@Singapore and BookFest@Malaysia, followed by BookFest@Hong Kong in 2008. Today, the annual BookFest has become a major annual event of the book industries in Singapore and Malaysia.