In the early 2000s, a Malaysian named Tan Yu Yeh wanted to open a shop that sold home improvement goods for low prices. He opened the first Mr. DIY branch in 2005.

People loved their brand so much, they started opening more branches all over Malaysia!

They never could’ve imagined that by 2023, they would have 1,000 stores. They now have branches in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, Spain, and other countries.

In 2020, they had a revenue of $550M (MYR 2.6B).

This is the story of the home improvement store that’s taken the world by storm.

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🔨 Humble beginnings

In 2005, Tan Yu Yeh had the idea of opening a home improvement store. He didn’t have a background in home improvement. He was a physics major who worked in engineering.  

But he saw that Malaysians struggled to find good home improvement stores. They had to go to many different shops to find materials at good prices. This was exhausting!

And since they didn’t want to do things themselves, they would have to wait for their items to be repaired, which took a long time.    

Tan Yu Yeh decided to start selling home improvement items, starting at just $0.69. He believed that this would make home improvement more accessible and fun!

So when he opened the first Mr. DIY branch in Selangor, Malaysia, he already had thousands of items on display!

People loved the wide range of tools sold at reasonable prices. So by the end of the year, Mr. DIY already had 3 branches!

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🔧 One step at a time

In 2008, Mr. DIY started to get a lot more popular. They focused less on standalone stores this time.

They instead opened their first mall branch in the Malaysian AEON shopping mall. Then they opened branches in other malls like Tesco and Giant!

They knew that they were a small business.

Compared to these giant companies, they didn’t stand a chance! But instead of giving up, they saw it as their way in.

For CEO Ong Chu Jin Adrian, Mr. DIY could “fill a gap in their businesses. Our stores are a one-stop center for everything that a home could need—except groceries, which is the specialty of the large retailers.”

Mr. DIY offered 17,000 products in different categories. They sold everything from hardware and car accessories to jewelry and toys!

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🪚 Things don’t stop there

In 2017, they opened their online shop. The products would be shipped to customers’ doorsteps in 2-5 days, making things more convenient than ever!

They could also pick up their items at the nearby shops. Because Mr. DIY was rapidly expanding all over Malaysia, pick-ups were easy to do.

Mr. DIY also expanded to other subsidiaries.

The first one is Mr. TOY, which sells children’s toys at low prices.

For CEO Ong Chu Jin Adrian, “The short attention span of today’s young generation and their access to digital content are changing toy buying behavior… Value-conscious parents are buying more toys in the course of the year but prefer to pay less for each purchase.”

They also have other stores like Mr. DOLLAR, which opened in 2020. Like the American Dollar Tree, these items range from $0.42 to $1.06 (MYR2-MYE 5).  

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🫂 Giving back to the community

Because of their great success, Mr. DIY makes it a priority to help as many people as they can. During COVID-19, they distributed PPEs and face masks to Malaysian hospitals, clinics, and police stations.

They also cleaned up the Sungai Kedondong river in Selangor. They wanted to do their part in creating a greener future, encouraging their customers to do the same!

They also created a feeding program for 737 students from low-income families.

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🤩 The key to success

So what makes Mr. DIY successful?

They offer a wide range of high-quality products at a low price. Paired with a large network of shops all over the country, this keeps people coming back for more!

Because they have so many branches, they can buy products in bulk and sell them for cheaper. They’ve also proven to be reliable sources to suppliers

As a homegrown brand, they take pride in understanding their customers’ needs well. They know how to pivot to fit what people are interested in at the time!

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🌏 Here and now

The idea of making good products accessible is a simple one. But Tan Yu Yeh stayed committed to this idea. Now, he and his brother are on Forbes’ Wealthiest List!

In 2023, they had a net profit of $30.9M (MYR 144.9M) and a revenue of $233M (MYR 1.1B).  They plan to open 180 more stores in Malaysia this year!

Their story proves that big businesses can start from the simplest ideas.

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Update: We have corrected the typo that stated that the net profit of $30.9M occurred in 2024. The correct statement is: In 2023, they had a net profit of $30.9M (MYR 144.9M) and a revenue of $233M (MYR 1.1B).