Wing Sang Building 20-22 Campbell Street Haymarket

Wing Sang & Co. building on 20-22 Campbell Street Haymarket (constructed in 1892).

Wing Sang Campbell Street Building 2017

Image Courtesy of: Denis Byrne

Wing Sang & Co. was an import and export fruit merchant and commission agent which operated in Haymarket of Sydney between 1890-1984. Wing Sang was founded in 1890, originally as a fruit shop by a group of Chinese who came from Zhongshan County in Guangdong. Wing Sang operated at several locations in Sydney’s Haymarket area at different times. Belmore Market was located on the site of the present-day Capitol Theatre, so all the buildings occupied by Wing Sang were close to the growers’ markets in the Haymarket. In 1895, the company rented the larger part of a three-storey commercial building occupying numbers 18-22 Campbell Street Haymarket (constructed in 1892) from the famous businessman and retailer Samuel Hordern (a director of the Anthony Hordern & Sons Department Store in Sydney). It is believed the building was made available to Wing Sang due to their founders’ association with the Presbyterian Church, Hordern being a member of the Church network.  

The building on 20-22 Campbell Street, which still stands, is in the Victorian Federation style. It has panels below the second-floor windows in the style of the Chinese screen, reflecting the interest in ‘Oriental art’ in Australia in the 1890s.

Wing Sang advertisement in Tung Wah News

Image Courtesy of: Tung Wah Newspaper