Long before MyNews became a familiar stop for coffee, snacks, and daily essentials, it was simply a small newsstand tucked inside a mall.
In December 1996, Dang Tai Luk opened a 200 sq ft outlet in 1 Utama, armed with limited capital but a deep belief that discipline and consistency could outlast size.
That belief was shaped long before his first store ever opened.
A Childhood Shaped By Work, Not Comfort
Dang grew up in Air Tawar, Perak, the fourth of nine siblings in a household shaped by effort rather than comfort. His father began as a rubber tapper before running a small welding and ironworks business to make ends meet. Through it all, one belief anchored the family: education was the path out of hardship.
Through sheer perseverance, Dang’s father managed to send several of his children abroad. Dang would go on to earn both his degree and master’s in computer science from the University of Manitoba, Canada.
Yet even then, one thought never left him.
He wanted a business of his own.
Two Failures That Changed Everything
Dang’s first steps into entrepreneurship were anything but smooth.
After returning to Malaysia, he worked full time at a financial institution. Almost immediately, he entered into a partnership with two friends to distribute a magnetic mosquito net developed in the United States. The idea showed promise. The execution did not. The venture collapsed within months, largely due to inexperience.
Several years later, Dang tried again, this time as a minority shareholder in a manufacturing venture producing sound systems for a US-based firm. Once again, the business failed.
This time, the lesson cut deeper.
The collapse was driven by personal greed and mismanagement, and it made something painfully clear to Dang. If he was going to build something lasting, he needed to start small, own it fully, and control how it was run.
The 24-Hour Decision That Changed His Life
That turning point came in 1996.
While visiting his parents in Petaling Jaya with his wife, Dang noticed a vacant lot in the newly opened 1 Utama Shopping Centre. When he enquired, he was told the space was available, but there was a catch.
He had just 24 hours to decide. Several offers were already on the table.
After talking things through with his wife, Ling Chao, Dang took a deep breath and made the leap.
The first store, named MagBit, short for magazines and titbits, opened on 25 December 1996. It was a 200 square feet store, completely self-funded, financed through an overdraft linked to Dang’s home mortgage. No banks were willing to lend to a newsstand business.
Those early days were difficult. Dang continued working full time to support the family while Ling Chao ran the shop. It was a true partnership, built on trust, sacrifice, and shared belief.
Seeing What Others Accepted As “Normal”
From the moment Dang stepped into the newsstand business, he sensed something was wrong.
Traditional newsstands had barely evolved. They were cluttered, closed-off, and poorly lit. With MagBit, Dang tried to make the space brighter and more welcoming, but he knew the problem ran deeper.
What troubled him most was how magazine and newspaper distribution worked.
“As a small retailer, you had no control. If you ordered 100 copies of one magazine and 50 of another, distributors could deliver the reverse, and there was nothing you could do,” he recalled.
Dang began to understand why industry veterans jokingly referred to it as a “mafia business”.
Instead of accepting it, he began questioning everything.
From MagBit To MyNews
After opening a second MagBit outlet in Sungai Buloh, Dang was offered a spot in Mid Valley Megamall in 1997. This time, he chose a different path.
He felt MagBit, both as a name and a concept, was limiting.
With ambitions that went beyond a single stall, Dang rebranded the business as myNEWS.com, reflecting a vision that extended beyond physical retail and hinted at a future digital presence.
The name change came with a new philosophy.
Design Became A Strategic Advantage
Dang enlisted the help of his youngest brother, Tai Wen, who had just graduated from architecture school in Canada. Together with their father, they redesigned the newsstand from scratch.
Their goal was simple, yet radical for its time: make it open, bright, and inviting.
Dang’s father even designed the magazine racks himself, carefully calculating the shelf angle so magazines would be clearly visible without falling. He built the prototype in his foundry, which was later manufactured for the stores.
This attention to detail did more than improve aesthetics. It changed perceptions.
Malls that once hesitated to rent space to newsstands began approaching MyNews. The brand looked clean, professional, and dependable. It operated from 10am to 10pm, every day of the year, something unheard of for traditional newsstands.
From One MyNews Store To A Retail Group
As consumer habits evolved, so did MyNews.
Over time, the company grew into a multi-brand retail group, operating myNEWS, CU, WHSmith, SUPERVALUE, and Maru Coffee. Each brand served a different customer need, but all were supported by the same operational discipline.
A major milestone came in 2019, with the completion of the group’s Food Processing Centre. This move gave MyNews control over ready-to-eat meals and bakery products, improving margins, reducing wastage, and strengthening consistency across stores.
Fresh food, Dang believed, was no longer optional in convenience retail. It was the future.
Why CU Became A Strategic Bet
The introduction of CU, the South Korean convenience store brand, marked one of the most consequential strategic shifts in the MyNews journey.
Rather than viewing foreign brands purely as competition, Dang Tai Luk saw CU as an opportunity to raise standards across the entire group. CU brought a sharper focus on freshly prepared food, trend-driven assortments, and a younger, lifestyle-oriented customer base, shaped by the growing influence of Korean culture.
The investment was significant, and the learning curve was steep. CU required substantial adjustments across supply chain integration, staff training, product mix optimisation, and wastage control. For several years, it weighed on group earnings as management refined the model and strengthened execution.
That patience is now beginning to pay off.
By 2024, a growing number of CU stores were contributing to higher basket sizes, stronger foot traffic, and improved brand relevance, particularly among urban and younger consumers.
Looking ahead, CU is expected to achieve profitability and make a meaningful contribution from financial year 2026, reinforcing its role as a growth engine rather than an experimental add-on.
Today, CU stands not just as a complementary brand, but as a long-term pillar within the MyNews portfolio, supporting earnings growth alongside the group’s already profitable banners.
Competition Was Never The Real Threat
Malaysia’s convenience store market became increasingly crowded, with both local and international players racing to expand.
Dang was never distracted.
To him, the market was not saturated. It was underserved and underdeveloped. The real opportunity lay in improving quality, reliability, and relevance.
MyNews invested early in digital loyalty programmes, e-wallet integration, and online ordering and delivery, positioning itself as part of customers’ daily routines rather than a last-minute stop.
The goal was not to be the loudest brand, but the most dependable.
By 2025, the group reported clear profit growth, improved margins, and renewed confidence to expand, with its network approaching 700 outlets nationwide.
A Very Malaysian Kind Of Success
MyNews is not a story of overnight success or flashy disruption.
It is the story of steady decisions, family support, systems thinking, and persistence.
Today, MyNews stands as Malaysia’s largest homegrown convenience store group, proving that a single newsstand, when built with discipline and purpose, can grow into a national footprint.
And for Dang Tai Luk, the work is clearly not done yet.
Sources: 1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6
Related articles:
How the OSK Founder Rose from Rubber Estates to a Billion-Ringgit Empire
Segi Fresh: The Empire That Started With a 16-Year-Old at the Night Market
Discussion about this post