HOMEGROWN Polar Puffs & Cakes, well known here for its sugar rolls and curry puffs, opened its maiden Malaysian confectionary outlet at the new Pavilion shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur just three weeks ago.

The outlet in the Malaysian capital is not only Polar's first in the country but also its first outside Singapore. Timothy Chan, Polar's group general manager, says it took the company more than a year to set up shop in Malaysia.

Good retail locations are hard to come by there, given a shortage of shopping space. So retailers have to be patient to secure a suitable site.

But Polar, which also sells cakes and chicken pies, also took its time because it wanted to make sure it got things right the first time.

"Malaysia is very important to us," says Mr Chan. "As our first outlet outside Singapore, success there will give us the confidence to set up beyond. It's also a showpiece for potential franchisees."

Polar, set up 81 years ago, has 33 shops and about 70 outlets at petrol kiosks, employing a total of almost 400 people in Singapore.

Sales have almost doubled to over $22 million in the past five years. But according to Mr Chan, the local market is near saturated. So the company can only expand abroad.

Malaysia was a natural first choice. Not only is the retail market there growing, but Malaysians' tastebuds are similar to those of Singaporeans, says Mr Chan.

And Malaysia is just next door to Singapore. "We want to keep a very close eye on our first venture overseas," he says. "We can easily go up and down to the outlet in KL."

Polar aims to set up 10 confectionary shops in the Malaysian capital by 2010. It also plans to open in Penang.

The present shop in Pavilion, strategically sited with a high foot traffic of 24 million a year, is 400 sq ft and has eight staff.

Business in the first two weeks was 'pretty bad' but it started to pick up last Saturday and is meeting expectations, says Mr Chan.

He expects sales across the Causeway to catch up with those in its Singapore shops within five years.

For now, sales are confined to non-Muslims as Polar is still awaiting Halal certification from the Malaysian authorities.

Mr Chan says red tape has not posed a problem in Malaysia, thanks partly to help given by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore in hooking Polar up with the right people.

But he finds it tough to recruit staff for the Malaysian shop. And contractors hired to do up the shop failed to meet deadlines.