Wing On
Encyclopedia
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
company in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
The company is currently owned by a Hong Kong listed company Wing On Company International Limited , incorporated in Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. The holding company of the listed company itself is Wing On International Holdings Limited, which is owned by Karl Kwok Chi Leung (郭志樑) and the Kwok family.
History
Brothers Kwok Lok (郭樂) and Kwok Chuen (郭泉) started the Wing On fruit store in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1897. In 1907 Kwok Chuen returned to Hong Kong with accumulated savings and founded the Wing On Company, the second Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
-owned department store in Hong Kong.
They later went on to found Wing On Bank
Wing On Bank
The Wing On Bank was a bank in Hong Kong that collapsed in 1986. It was majority owned by Wing On Holdings, a listed vehicle 68.8% controlled by the Kwok family, including Kwok Lam-po.-History:...
.
Stores in Hong Kong
It has five outlets in Hong Kong, with 360,000 square feet (33,400 square metres) of shopping space. The five stores are:- Main Store: Wing On Centre, 211 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung WanSheung WanSheung Wan is an area in Hong Kong, located in the north-west of Hong Kong Island, between Central and Sai Ying Pun. Administratively, it is part of the Central and Western District...
- Wing On Plus (Nathan Road): Wing On Kowloon Center, 345 Nathan Road, JordanJordan, Hong KongJordan is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District of Hong Kong. The unofficial area is named after a road of the same name.-Geography:Jordan is located in the central part of the Yau Tsim Mong District, as suggested by the name of some bus stops nearby...
-Yau Ma TeiYau Ma TeiYau Ma Tei, also known as Waterloo , is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.-Name:Yau Ma Tei is a phonetic transliteration of the name 油麻地 in Cantonese... - Wing On Plus (Tsim Sha Tsui East): Wing On Plaza, 62 Mody RoadMody RoadMody Road is a road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is named after Hormusjee Naorojee Mody who invested in and developed Tsim Sha Tsui.-Location:...
, Tsim Sha Tsui East - Taikoo Shing Store: CityplazaCityplazaCityplaza , located in Taikoo Shing in the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island, is one of the shopping malls operated by Swire Properties . The mall forms the Island East development with Taikoo Shing and Taikoo Place. The mall has a total of six floors. There are also three large commercial...
, Units 074 & 144, 18 Taikoo Shing Road, Taikoo ShingTaikoo ShingTaikoo Shing, or Tai Koo Shing , is a private residential in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It forms a part of the Swire Properties's Island East residential and retail branding, along with TaiKoo Place, the adjacent Cityplaza retail and office complex and EAST, a lifestyle business... - Discovery Bay Store: Shop 114, Block C, Discovery Bay Plaza, Discovery BayDiscovery BayDiscovery Bay is a mixed, primarily residential, development comprising a residential development and private and public recreational facilities in Hong Kong. It is situated on the north-eastern coast of Lantau Island in the New Territories. The development spans an area of 650 hectares , and...
, Lantau IslandLantau IslandLantau Island , based on the old local name of Lantau Peak , is the largest island in Hong Kong, located at the mouth of the Pearl River. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands District of Hong Kong...
The branch at the Wing On Centre was prominently featured in the climactic sequence to the 1985 Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
film Police Story.
Wing On in Shanghai
Wing On also had a branch in ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. The Shanghai branch was opened in 1918 on Nanking Road (today's Nanjing Road), and was at the time one of the "big four" department stores of Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. The store occupied two prominent buildings. The distinctive original building stood opposite from the (then) Sincere Department Store
Sincere Department Store
Sincere Department Store is a department store under the Sincere Company Limited and one of the oldest department chains in Hong Kong. It is one of four major Chinese department stores -History:Founded by Ma Ying Piu in 1900 after returning from Australia and partnership with...
. An extension was built next to it in the 1930s. After the communist revolution in China (1949), the store was nationalised, and traded under various names. In 2005, it resumed the Chinese version of the Wing On name . However, the store is owned by a separate company to Wing On, called "Yongan Department Store Co Ltd", a state-owned company. This company does not use the "Wing On" name in its English translations. http://www.yongan.sh.cn/about1.asp The exterior of the original store was restored to its appearance during the Wing On period. However, the interior has been drastically refurbished. The store has also changed its market orientation, focusing almost exclusively on clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
, with a small department in watch
Watch
A watch is a small timepiece, typically worn either on the wrist or attached on a chain and carried in a pocket, with wristwatches being the most common type of watch used today. They evolved in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century. The first watches were...
es and other accessories.