Getting into the Trade at 25

Cheng & Tsui, an independent publisher and distributor of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian language learning materials in Boston, is marking its 25th anniversary by moving deeper into the trade side of the business. Although the company's bestsellers are educational series such as Integrated Chinese by Tao-Chung Yao et al. and Adventures in Japanese by Hiromi Peterson and Naomi Omizo (geared to junior-high and high-school students), Cheng & Tsui has done well with some titles in Barnes & Noble stores and other retailers specifically in metropolitan areas, according to company founder Jill Cheng. "The company's motto," said Cheng, "is 'Bringing Asia to the world,' which is why not being in the trade seems a real shame. Right from the beginning I wanted to be in the trade, but our materials were so specialized, they didn't do well except in urban areas."

Cheng is looking to hire a marketing manager to work directly with trade accounts and explain the specialized features and sales potential behind books like Breeze into Japanese: Practical Language for Beginners (Mar.) by Kazuko Imaeda and The Cheng & Tsui English-Chinese Lexicon of Business Terms (with Pinyin) compiled by Andrew C. Chang, a dictionary for English speakers who need to read a balance sheet in Chinese. Despite limited trade outlets, Cheng & Tsui has experienced healthy growth of 15% to 20% over the past few years, which Cheng attributed to the fact that the company is small and "a real niche player." Altogether Cheng & Tsui carries about 700 to 800 items, including books, software and DVDs and distributes works from eight publishers from Australia, Asia and Europe. "We distribute very selectively," said Cheng. "We are approached by many and we turn down a lot. They have to be products that fit in our niche."