▲ Choi Ji-won, CEO of Maman Elephant / Design 730

Maman Elephant is a children’s clothing brand where you can have a quality children’s dress around KRW 20,000 won. Choi majored in design and worked as a teacher at school after graduation. It was when she married and had a baby that she grew interest on children’s clothing since it is every mom’s wish to buy pretty clothes for their children. She made the most of her experience of once engaging in the clothing wholesale to obtain quality clothes and opened the first Maman store in Yongin City in July 2014. Her cost-effective initial capital policy which costs less than KRW 10 million won inclusive of interior, signboard and props has made her business as successful as today to run 33 Maman stores nationwide. The competitive price around KRW 20,000 won a dress as well as a variety of product lines also contributed to growing the business alongside the cost-effective initial capital policy. More importantly, however, the number of each clothes is sold at limited amount to make sure of its scarcity but the lines include for moms also so that they can style a combination with their children. Thanks to this realistic management philosophy, there are many cases of regular-turned store owners of Maman with some of them reportedly paying yearly KRW 300 million to 400 million won tax. With this success she made with Maman Elephant, Choi opened an interior firm branded as ‘Design 730’ and is currently building the head office building. However, Choi is careful on expanding the business carelessly; opening stores more than she can chew can possibly lead to difficulty and she knows this very well. Instead, she pays attention to pick up the right business partners who have will and passion and above all the cooperative mind that can grow the business together. “My experience tells me that one cannot make a success with focus on fast profits only or selfish mind; but the one with determination and a conviction that an alley store in a village can also make a great success one day through cooperation, quality products and competitive price.” If you are interested in joining the business of Maman Elephant with a firm will to grow the business together, you are more than welcome to contact Maman Elephant.  

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