Expressions Stationery Shop, Incorporated rose from its mother company Sterling Papers Group of Companies. It all started with its founder, Mr. Lim Seh Leng.

In 1984, the first retail store of Sterling was established offering greeting cards, it was later on developed to provide school and office supplies and was later named Expressions.
Over the years, Expressions continuous to be a competitive player in the retail industry by providing affordable basic school & office supplies plus a wide assortment of arts & crafts and novelty items. Expressions is the first to offer franchising in this business format.

In 1999, Expressions Stationery Shop, Incorporated, diversified and ventured into department store industry that gave birth to Mart One Department Store with the objective of providing an urbanized shopping experience to communities.
Further expansion was made when another department store concept was created to serve the young market. Hence, the opening of the first branch of mi Department Store in North EDSA.
ESSI broaden its business by entering into an amusement and recreational center with the opening of Gameworld in 2010 which was later named Fun Nation.

In 2013, to strengthen the foothold of the brand in North Luzon, M1 Mall was built in Santiago, Isabela. To provide a complete shopping experience, an authentic and modern Chinese cuisine restaurant was developed and named Golden Bamboo Restaurant.

On the 24th of February 2018, we have achieved the Guinness World Record for the largest art lesson which consisted of 16,692 held at the historic Quezon City Memorial Circle.