Melco: catalyzing Christmas and Lunar New Year opportunities for Macau’s local SMEs

Supporting local Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) businesses through various events for the Christmas holiday season and Chinese New Year, Melco Resorts and Entertainment continues contributing to the sustainable development of Macau. As one of the city’s leading integrated resort companies, Melco has supported more than 70 local businesses in recent months by providing rent-free retail booths at their various properties.

Traditionally, the end of the year marks the busiest season for retail businesses as shoppers search for the perfect gifts for their loved ones and prepare to gather with friends and family. To help businesses catalyze opportunities, Melco hosted a month-long SME-focused Christmas Bazaar at Studio City which featured festive retail booths, food and beverage, performances and giveaways.

SME vendors who took part in a questionnaire responded positively to the Melco Christmas Bazaar, with around 80% of business owners reporting that they were pleased with the Bazaar’s overall operations including its duration, operation hours, decorations and booth settings, while more than 90% of vendors expressed interest in joining future Melco-hosted SME-targeted events.

At the same time, as one of the city’s biggest employers with approximately 15,000 colleagues working locally in Macau, Melco has invited nearly 30 SMEs to take part in the Company’s employee-only Heart of House area SME roadshows in the run up to Christmas and Chinese New Year, offering rent-free retail spaces at City of Dreams, Studio City and Altira Macau. The Christmas Heart of House event generated more than MOP300,000 in sales revenue for vendors.

“The Bazaar has been a positive and eye-opening experience for us as a local SME business. Having joined a few of Melco’s workshops dedicated to SME development last year, we were confident to explore our relationship further with the company and jumped at the opportunity to take part in the Studio City SME-dedicated Christmas Bazaar. Initially not quite knowing what to expect, the outdoor space was beautifully lit up at the opening event, creating a lovely, festive atmosphere. It has been a great opportunity for us as a company to gain increased exposure, promoting our brand and products and meeting new clients and fellow SMEs,” said Ms. Karen Chu, Executive Director of Paris Store Company Limited.

Following the employee-targeted Christmas market, a Chinese New Year market is also currently underway at Melco’s Heart of House areas to support local SMEs. Sixteen attending vendors participating in the event are offering goods ranging from food and beverages to electronic appliances.

“Participating at the Christmas Bazaar event has been great for us to get to know the ins and outs of working with a large corporation like Melco. We are now further extending our relationship with them through operating a booth the employee-only area for the Chinese New Year, which we hope to be just as successful,” said Ms. Ip Man Ian, Store Owner of Here Online Store.

This year, Melco plans to continue working hand in hand with SMEs for the sustainable development of Macau, announcing its forthcoming initiative to offer rent-free spaces to local SMEs in support of Made in Macau projects through providing platforms for local vendors to showcase and sell products to visitors at Studio City.

Mr. Geoff Andres, Property President of Studio City, said, “Melco is firmly committed to supporting local SME business development in Macau. We have been planning a series of further initiatives to continue establishing detailed dialogue and understanding between ourselves and local SME businesses. We are pleased to introduce the forthcoming Macau-first pop-up store initiative at our Studio City property to provide support and contribute to the advancement of local small and medium-scale businesses and look forward to working in collaboration with many more of our local vendors towards the sustainable development of Macau.”

Melco’s SME-focused initiatives such as its ‘Knowing You, Knowing Us’ campaign aims to create a communications platform between SMEs and Melco; to help SMEs get to know Melco as a company, its management team and employees, as well as the Company’s operational requirements and standards, and for Melco to get to know Macau’s local suppliers, their businesses, services and offerings, and serve as a catalyst for the development of a sustainable Macau.