UTAR Department of Students Affairs (DSA) visited Bargain Basement at IOI City Mall, Putrajaya on 17 February 2020 to explore and discuss the feasibility and potential of setting up a bargain store at Sungai Long and Kampar campuses.

Present were Founder of Bargain Basement Datin Joanne Wong, Bargain Basement staff Elain Teoh Yee Meng and Syafuddin, DSA Head of Sungai Long Campus Loh Nyuk Leung DSA staff Alice Lim Bee Chee, Lam Lai Yuet, Chow Keng Fatt, Ma Foong Mei, Choong Yee Chin, Chairperson of Community Service Society Kwa Eng Keat and Vice Chairperson of Sustainable Development Club Amelia Ting Tse En. A sharing session was also held during the visit.

During the sharing session, Datin Joanne Wong suggested UTAR to collaborate within the campus to kick-start a store. Datin Joanne Wong said, “The store can be designed by the Arts students, built by the Engineering students and run by the Business students. Marketing students can work on spreading the word to areas around Kampar, getting residents to spring clean and donate items from their houses and offices. It will be a team effort, all for a good cause.”

Various kinds of good were put on display at Bargain Basement such as clothes, books, shoes, bags, luggage, compact disks and even furniture. The price ranged from RM5 to RM250, depending on the quality of the goods.

Bargain Basement is a social enterprise store initiated by Yayasan Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng. It is the charity arm of IOI Group which sells pre-used items to the public. The net proceeds collected from the sale will go to various charities. The store promotes spring cleaning (the clearing of household clutter), the reuse and recycling of items and provides a place for the community to purchase value for money items. Most importantly, every purchase is a donation to the underprivileged.