Later, Chan decided to go solo and his T-shirts, priced cheap, made its way to the racks of the SM malls and this small venture marked the rise of Bench under the Suyen Corp. as a global brand. The Bench trademark is derived by telescoping Chan’s first and last name—Ben Chan. And from its humble offerings, Bench grew into a lifestyle store—offering hair products and specializing in bath and fragrance products under the separate women’s line HerBench
The Bench line of apparel became such a success that it afforded Chan the luxury of getting actor Richard Gomez as his first celebrity endorser. Gomez was featured in the first Bench TV ad “A Day in A Sculler’s Life” in 1991—which showed the actor rowing to the music of Chopin’s “Claire de Lune”. This TV ad received a “Best in Cinematography” award from the Philippine Advertising Congress in the same year. Expansion As the corporation expanded, Chan inaugurated the Bench FIX salon, a chain of beauty hubs for the public, and he also ventured into the internet café business with his B/Connected Internet Café. In 2004, he acquired the fashion brand Kashieca and Celio a French men’s wear