Yap Chin Fatt, 84, chose the ‘artistic’ word Venus for his iconic store in Petaling Street that has stood the test of time for almost half a century. — Pictures by Saw Siow Feng

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — Just six years younger than Malaysia, the 47-year-old art supply store has served several generations of students and artists but Venus Art & Stationery Sdn Bhd is set to close down for good in three months’ time.

Yap Chin Fatt, 84, started Venus Art in Kuala Lumpur in 1969, at a time when his peers had dismissed such a business as a feasible choice.

In a recent interview, Yap told Malay Mail Online he chose the name Venus as it is “very artistic”, adding that artists like Venus who is the goddess of love and that he felt it signified art.

His son Yap Hoi Leong, 55, said the store was started as there was a demand for art materials, with Venus Art & Stationery then considered one of the few pioneers in the business.

About 80 per cent of the store’s items are imported from countries like the UK, US and China; Venus Art had to go through appointed distributors in Singapore in the early days before some of the art supply manufacturers opened up outlets or supplier firms in Malaysia.

Yap said the store mainly catered to art schools, schools and artists but also counted architecture students and newspaper publishers, tourists and expats among its customers.

Some of the famous local artists who are customers here include Loo Foh Sang and Yeoh Jin Leng, with the elder Yap knowing most of them on a first name basis.

Yap Hoi Leong, 55, said the family-run business always keeps track of and constantly adapts to changing trends in the art world.

Changing times, changing demand

With the advancement of technology and computers, graphic designs are increasingly done digitally and architecture students’ use of computer-aided design software renders “technical pens almost obsolete.”

“Again that also affected our art material supplies, products also we have changes, anything that can be done by computer, we have to reduce and not import anymore,” Yap said, noting that some products sourced from overseas can also no longer be bought due to the change in trends.

Venus Art has gradually cut back its stock of technical tools for architecture students as the slowing demand became apparent about a decade ago, although there are still customers who ask for them.

Yap sits behind the countertop featuring own-brand Fairbreno’s logo, while the ‘Venus Art’ sign and Chinese calligraphy spelling out the word ‘Venus’ can be seen in the background.

Braving economic cycles

Yap said running the art supply store had become increasingly challenging, noting that business costs have gone up and rising living costs have forced customers to cut back on spending.

“Over the years now, operating expenses have increased tremendously, of course with GST now, there will always be cutbacks by artists and students, parents will have to rebudget their purchases, of course they will still buy but to a lesser extent,” he said.

According to Yap, the currency exchange rate is the main driver of price increases of imported art materials, as the original prices from suppliers generally do not change much.

Yap recalls the fluctuating currency exchange rates during the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis, which he said resulted in the store having to increase its prices and wait for customers to readjust their budgets and eventually resume purchasing at a lower value.

“That time even our local suppliers were increasing prices almost like overnight due to the exchange rate… if it’s a small jump, it’s ok, everybody can still withstand; if it’s a big jump nobody can stand (it), because now you may sell the product at RM5, if the cost may already be at RM5, how do you sell your product, you have to increase price, otherwise you lose money,” he said.

Time for a good rest

Yap said it is now time for his parents — aged 84 and 73 — to “rest”, noting that it has been increasingly hard to hire those interested to work in the art supply store, with the last employee under them working until late last year.

“We can last for so many years, it’s quite an achievement, and the day has come to close, hopefully somebody else will pick up from there. For us this has come to a close and it’s a good legacy.

“And of course my father has already reached his age, I’m sure there would be even more stress on him with the new expenses coming up, we are not sure how the expenses will go even further,” he said of the store that has been a GST-registered outlet since the tax’s introduction last April.

Yap said the family is still studying the possibility of resuming art supply sales online but has no timeline for that yet, adding that sales to overseas customers would also be possible depending on logistics costs.

He said the family is also open to the idea of others taking on the name of Venus Art in the future, adding: “Hopefully one day somebody will use the name and carry forward, that’s all. I’m sure my father will be very happy it’s ongoing—his legacy, to see the name of the company carry forward and I will be very happy for him.”

The future in Fairbro and Fairbreno

For Yap himself, he will focus on the production of the family’s own brands — Fairbro and Fairbreno — that were started in 1991 and currently covers 20 to 30 categories of products, such as acrylic paint, fabric paint, poster paint, batik paints and lino ink.

Yap said the local manufacturing of the products are meant to help customers save money instead of relying on more expensive imports, adding that the brands are currently exported to Singapore and Indonesia and would hopefully be sold in other Asean countries eventually.

Following the push by then prime minister Tun Abdullah Badawi’s late wife Tun Endon Mahmood Ambak for better recognition of batik, Venus Art introduced a new innovation — quick wax for batik that differs from the traditional method of heating wax.

Yap said the gel-like pen that allows for batik painting requires no heating at all and was developed under the Fairbreno label in hopes of introducing batik to the younger generation.

Venus Art, which started off in its rented premise in lot 112 down the same road, shifted about 15 to 20 years ago to its current two-storey lot when the opportunity to purchase it came up. The Yap family has no fixed plans for the building yet.

Yap said the family is now focusing on clearing off the stock at the store by the end of May and was satisfied that customers have over the years managed to find the materials they need at Venus Art, stating: “We are very happy about that, we know that we try our best to cater to every customer who walks into our store.”

Running an art supply store may not have birthed an artist from the Yap family, but one of Yap’s three children — Sandra — did study art and is now helping out with the manufacturing business.

The pragmatic elder Yap said Venus Art has to close down due to growing operation costs, but thanked the store’s loyal customers for their support over the years.

The founder and his customers

The pragmatic elder Yap said his customers are sad that Venus Art has to close down, adding however that he has no other choice despite appreciating their support.

“Because if I were to prolong I would lose more money, overhead (costs) is too big, and the situation has changed, our ringgit has dropped, import up, GST,” the octogenarian said, noting that the huge amount of capital required and lack of knowledge of the art materials sold may deter others from buying over his art supply store.

“Secondly, you need bulk going in, bulk going out, that’s why no one dare to take it,” he said, noting that his store has been aided by bulk supplies to schools and art colleges.

Even as the elder Yap sells off his collection of curios displayed in the store such as an oversized abacus, an old wooden coconut grater and an ornate metal cigarette stand, some of the customers we met talk about their fond memories of the store.

Art programme instructor Josephine Thong told Malay Mail Online she came by to stock up supplies after reading of the store’s closing down sale on Facebook.

“It’s pretty sad in a way because Venus Art has been here for so long, because they are kind of like an iconic landmark, when people say Venus Art in the art circle they know, so it’s quite sad it close down like that,” the 44-year-old said, who was accompanied by her husband Rene Patrick who was making his first visit despite having always passed by the store as a schoolboy.

Artist Ruby Salam, 60, said she first visited the store in 1974 when she was still an architecture student in the then Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM), recalling the one-hour bus rides she took from Shah Alam to the now-demolished Klang bus stand, before walking over to the store.

“Both of us have been coming here for so many years,” she said, referring to her 68-year-old artist husband Datuk Mahsun Hj Taib. “Even though there are so many art shops, I still come here because there are some things that I cannot get in other places.”

Both said that there were only two art supply stores around in the past, namely Venus Art and Nanyang Art Supplies Sdn Bhd, with Ruby saying that students could only afford to come to Venus Art while the latter catered more to established artists.

With her son in tow, Ruby said she was a bit sad at the closing of the shop as she had a lot of memories of the place.

A customer browsing at the well-stocked and well-organised Venus Art, which some customers claim continues to afford cheaper prices compared to other outlets.

Gladys Simpson, an artist who does pet portraits, said she has been coming to Venus Art on and off for almost three decades to buy her art materials.

“I have been coming here since 1988, I was a student in Malaysian Institute of Art, I think I bought my first airbrush here… I guess it was the shop to come to, because Malaysian Institute of Art was in Jalan Imbi, that building has been knocked down since, I think we were only a year here and then they (MIA) moved to Taman Melawati,” the graphic design graduate said.

The former art director in the advertising industry said she still returned to Venus Art due to her familiarity with it and its prices remained affordable compared to other stores.

“It’s sad, it’s like an era is sort of over and the new takes over the old... as much as you don’t want things to move forward, you have to progress. And it’s sad, old businesses die down. Bitter sweet, it’s how you put it I guess,” said Gladys, who found out on this visit that the shop was founded the same year she was born.

Venus Art & Stationery Sdn Bhd

90, Jalan Petaling,

50000, Kuala Lumpur.

Opening hours:

Mon-Fri: 9am-5.30pm

Sat: 9am-5pm