Popular Holdings, usually called Popular, is a Singapore-based company that publishes, distributes, and retails books for the local education market. The Group currently carries out its publishing activities through subsidiaries operating in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Canada. It now has its core businesses in retail, distribution, publishing and e-learning.
The first Popular Bookstore was set up in 1936 by Chou Sing Chu in North Bridge Road, focusing on retailing Chinese books and stationery. The POPULAR Bookstore is a one-stop retail hub that provides a comprehensive range of merchandise that includes books, stationery, multimedia, music and audio-visual products. The bookstore carries much stock not only book in all ranges from fiction, non-fiction, assessment for primary, secondary and junior college levels but also stationery, art and crafts material, electronics and computer software.
The retail business is POPULAR’s primary business, and being the largest bookstore chain in Southeast Asia, it has an extensive retail network of nearly 156 outlets located in prime shopping malls throughout Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, with a total retail space of 973,709 square feet. In 2009, POPULAR opened its first franchise in Myanmar. POPULAR has also successfully established a membership base, and currently has over 1.5 million members in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.
