PETALING JAYA, Nov 26 — Started in 2014, Stickerrific at Jaya One has been touted as a stationery lover’s Disneyland with its treasure trove of leather-bound journals, stickers, washi tapes, postcards, wax seals, ink in technicolour hues, calligraphy pens, calendars and the list goes on.
The place was started by Szetoo Weiwen, 30, who runs the place with her 27-year-old sister Weishya.
From its humble beginnings as a shop selling stickers on Instagram, Stickerrific has now grown to cover 1,900 square feet that also includes a drinks-only cafe and space for workshops.
It’s also the home of three adopted stray cats named Leia, Luke and Chewie after those famous Star Wars characters. Through a series of unforeseen events, Szetoo started this shop that has grown to be a well-loved space for those seeking stationery Nirvana.
In her childhood days, Szetoo admits that she didn’t collect much stationery. “I came from a frugal family. As my dad worked for Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), we moved a lot. I had five, six schools growing up because of his work,” she recalled.
When she was in Standard 3, she was taught cursive writing by one of the nuns in her school. This required her to get a fountain pen which started her life-long use.
She recalls that when she was 12, she saved up to buy a fountain pen for RM11 at a co-operative; she used the pen throughout her school years.
As a way to encourage Szetoo and her siblings to read and write, her mother would take the free TNB diaries they received and get them to write about their day’s activities.
Even though it got repetitive, they all had to write in it or else they couldn’t leave for school! Szetoo adds, “There was once I didn’t finish and she really did not let me out the door! That was when I was in Standard 1. That’s how serious she was about getting us how to read and write even at a young age.”
This worked as later, the broadcast journalism graduate joined The Star’s BRATs (the newspaper’s teens journalism programme) from which she progressed into writing professionally.
In college, she also picked up photography. From street photography, she progressed into wedding photography which she did on a freelance basis for around seven years. Those photography skills are put to good use for her shop, as she now takes all the product shots for their online store and social media platforms.
“Everything came with a purpose which is why I learned all these things and you enjoy the process as you go along,” she explained. She believes you need to have lot of determination and patience to learn these skills.
How Stickerrific started is itself interesting. At that time, Szetoo was running the Centre for Asian Photographers in Jaya One while she did wedding photography on the side.
One of her wedding photography clients asked Szetoo to take her washi tape stock on consignment as she wanted to close down her online business. She thought it was a perfect fit since Szetoo was teaching scrapbooking to children at the centre.
Initially, Szetoo was sceptical but her sister, who was already selling washi tapes and Traveler’s Notebooks, thought they could be sold at the centre.
When The School at Jaya One had an Easter bazaar, they gave a free booth to the centre. “It was mainly for kids. They gave us a free booth so I did a photo booth. That time I didn’t have much in my bank account so I spent half of it buying stickers just to put out things at the booth.
“Not many people came for the event so I had so a lot of leftover stock. Later I opened an Instagram account called Stickerrific to sell the rest online,” said Szetoo.
When the centre closed, Szetoo decided to start selling stationery at Jaya One. It was mostly stickers at first and eventually the business started to grow and expand. With growing interest in their business, they decided to move into their current space in January this year.
At the shop, customers can pick up stickers curated by Szetoo which also include their in-house stickers featuring Malaysian dishes and their three furry mascots. These are also available as postcards and pins.
From stickers, they have also branched out to journalling, which Szetoo got into after her sister gifted her a Traveler’s Notebook for her birthday. When people saw Szetoo’s personal journal, many asked if they could buy it. Instead, she told them she’d teach them how to create their own which sparked off their workshops on scrapbooking.
“If you asked me why I started, when I started there was no plan. It was just at that time the other business was suffering so we were either at the brink of closing it for good but I saw this crafting, journalling thing as an opportunity.”
That idea to move into journalling gave a boost to their business and nowadays Szetoo also runs workshops on watercolour, calligraphy and brush lettering. They also have guest workshop instructors to conduct classes for book binding, leather crafting and other crafts.
When it comes to sourcing for stationery for her shop, Szetoo believes that it is much more than just aesthetics. “The tools do not do much but if you incorporate them with a purpose that you know you want to execute, when the two come together, it’s more of a tangible kind of dream or idea you put on paper,” she shared.
She also reckons that nowadays stationery appeals to people because they all have some hidden desire to own these items that weren’t accessible in the past. Szetoo adds, “I think all of it resonates with a lot of adults who shop here because they didn’t get to buy the stationery they wanted when they were young. So now that they have the earning power, they spend on this.”
Stickeriffic
F-85-3.1, Palm Square, Jaya One
72A, Jalan Universiti, PJ
Website: https://www.stickerrificstore.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stickerrific
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stickerrific/
