York Lo: True Gold Fears No Fire: 150 Years of Tse Lee Yuen (謝利源) Founded in Macau in 1867, Tse Lee Yuen (also known as Che Lei Un and Che Lee Yuen and now known as O’Che 1867) is one of the oldest jewelers in Macau which is still going strong under the management of the fourth generation. In the […]
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York Lo: Texwood (德士活) and “Apple Jeans”(蘋果牌牛仔褲) In March 2020, Texwood closed its flagship Apple Jeans store on Argyle Street inMongkok after 35 years, leaving only one store in HK in Diamond Hill although the jeans giant remains a major player in the mainland. Founded in 1959, Texwood was one of the major local brands of jeans in HK along […]
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3rd June 2021 An additional image and information sent in by Dheeraj Khiytani was added. See 1907. HF:Watson’s is possibly the oldest retailer still in existence in Hong Kong and unquestionably among a tiny few that have opererated continuously since the early days of the colony… By 1941 Watson’s was already the largest chemist, retailer of health and beauty products, […]
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York Lo: N. Lazarus (明晶洋行)– Leading Opticians of the Far East Left: N. Lazarus store in Central; Right: ad for N. Lazarus in HK in 1900 (China Mail, 1900-4-10) Eyeglasses is a big business in Hong Kong and one of the first opticians in record in the city was N. Lazarus, started in the late 19th century by oculist-optician of […]
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York Lo: Hong Kong Jade Industry and some of its pioneers The trading and manufacturing of jade is one of the oldest businesses in HK but the industry did not form its group until June 1965 when the US government imposed an embargo on HK jadeite goods and in response, J.D. McGregor, then Deputy Director of Commerce and Industry suggested […]
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York Lo: Bargain Electrical Co (平霸電業) and System One (新一系電器) Bargain Electrical Co and System One were two leading electronics retailers in Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s respectively that have since faded into history. The former was best remembered for its low prices and catchy TV commercials while the latter was launched by the conglomerate First Pacific and […]
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York Lo: Dragon Seed (龍子行) Left: the original Dragon Seed store on the right at 37 Queen’s Road Central in the early 1950s, A Man Hing Cheong was on the left.Right: Dragon Seed Building in the early 2000s when it was occupied by Yue Hwa (Apple Daily) From its inception in the late 1940s to the 1990s, Dragon Seed Co […]
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York Lo: Jam Fair Department Store (占飛百貨) Left: Jam Fair’s store in Central in 1968; Right: Jam Fair at Honour House in Yaumatei in 1989 From the 1940s to 1970s, Jam Fair was one of leading retailers in Hong Kong with branches in Central in the HK side and two stores on Nathan Road in the Kowloon side. Jam Fair […]
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York Lo: Wong Man-keung (王文強, 1903-1976) and W.S. Sherly & Co (些厘洋行) While Wong Man-keung and his W.S. Sherly & Co might be very low profile, the products which they acted as sole agent for in HK such as the malted drink Horlicks, Pepsodent toothpaste, Longines watches and Kleenex tissues are the opposite and his family is also connected to […]
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York Lo: Dickson and Hopson: the Tales of Two Handbag Companies Dickson and Hopson are two players in the handbag business in Central with similar sounding names and over half a century of history but catering to two different segments – the earlier focused on the higher end clientele while the latter caters to the mass market with its own […]
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