Nam Wah Ink Company – Wellington Street shop closure SCMP March 2014
HF: The SCMP had an interesting article about the closing of a company which was founded in 1948: “Cans of printing ink line the teak shelves of the Nam Wah Company shop, which has been supplying local and mainland printers since before the second world war.
Unknown photographer Source: SCMP
But its long history comes to a full stop tomorrow [6th March 2014] when the three-storey building on Wellington Street reverts to the government to make way for an Urban Renewal Authority redevelopment along Peel Street and Graham Street in Central.
Conservationists had called on the government to save the building and allow 76-year-old owner Tsui Pak-kim and his family to continue the business, which was founded by Tsui’s father.
Campaigners have praised its unusual architectural style and cultural significance: the name of the company was written on the second-floor balcony by calligrapher Su Shijie, a revolutionary ally of Dr Sun Yat-sen, founder of modern China. While the Nam Wah shop will be demolished, the building next door, home to Wing Woo Grocery for 80 years, will have its façade preserved.
Tsui, who took over the business from his father when he was about 30, said the business moved from nearby Cochrane Street in the 1950s because it needed more space. The ground floor of the new shop, a former bakery built before the war, was for sales; upper floors for storage…”
Source: Ink dries on historic Hong Kong shop’s final chapter SCMP 5th March 2014
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