Shanghai, People's Republic of China – Richard Lim has weathered the Asian business storm in Singapore by adding two Showplace showrooms to his growing franchise chain in the past two years.

Lim owns four Showplace showrooms himself and successfully franchised the concept. For $15,000 each Lim is finding entrepreneurs who want to be in the home decorating business in 500-600 square foot locations in Singapore and Malaysia. ''We think we could eventually have 10 units in Singapore in shopping mall locations, each generating about $400,000 per year in sales,'' said Lim.

Lim purchases 80 percent of the fabrics for the franchisees while they do the balance of what's needed, he said. About 65 percent of the product is purchased in the U.S. and the balance from European sources.

Lim shopped for basic plains at Intertextile in Shanghai. ''The design is not up to world standards,'' he said. ''Prints are weak in general so we're buying naturally colored solids in beiges and cremes in all cotton. You can't beat the prices for the quality offered.''

''The Chinese are moving very fast,'' he said. ''The number of suppliers have increased in the past five years. Ten years ago, the basic items in China were not so good and now they're comparable with Western standards. Before, store shelves were half empty and now they're well stocked,'' he said. Lim also said he believes that Chinese designs could improve quickly.