Wing On Department Store, Hong Kong

Wing On store in Hong Kong 1950

Image Courtesy of: wikipedia: Des Voeux Road, Central

Wing On Department was founded by Gock Lock and Gock Chin in Hong Kong in 1907, with the capital they earned from Wing On & Co in Sydney and their remittance business. 

The first Wing On Store was located in Wing On Department at 167 Queen’s Road Central with an initial investment of HK$160,000. The store was later moved to a bigger premise in Des Voeux Road. By 1916, the Department stores stretching from 207-235 Des Voeux Road to 104-118 Connaught Road, with the total amount of investment increased to HK$2 million. In 1918, the company opened a flagship store in a brand new white western-style building on Nanjing Road. The highly successful Wing On Department Store was named one of China's 'four big department stores' before 1949. In 1949, Wing On Department Stores in China was nationalised by the Chinese government, but the department store continues to operate in Hong Kong.

Wing On building, Shanghai

Image Courtesy of: https://baike.baidu.com/pic/%E6%B0%B8%E5%AE%89%E5%85%AC%E5%8F%B8/860097/1268493798/1b4c510fd9f9d72a2eb924b7d42a2834359bbbbe?fr=lemma#aid=1268493798&pic=1b4c510fd9f9d72a2eb924b7d42a2834359bbbbe