Sincere Department Store

Sincere Department Store (Chinese: 先施百貨; pinyin: Xiānshī Bǎihuò; Wade–Giles: Hsien-shih Pai-huo) is a department store under the Sincere Company Limited and one of the oldest department chains in Hong Kong. Prior to 1949, its largest operation was in Shanghai, and along with Wing On (which survives in Hong Kong), Sun Sun (新新公司 1926–1951) and Da Sun (大新公司) was one of the "four great department stores" of Shanghai, and therefore, China generally.[1]

Sincere Department Store
Native name
先施百貨
Public trading company
IndustryFashion retailing
Founded1900
Founder25 investors including Ma Ying Piu
HeadquartersHong Kong, China Taiwan, Australia, United Kingdom,
Hong Kong
Area served
Hong Kong and Mainland China
Key people
Board Chair Walter K.W. Ma, managing director/Executive Director Philip K.H. Ma and board member King Wing Ma
ProductsConsumer goods and services
ServicesRetail, advertising, travel
RevenueHKD 458,410,000 (2011)
HKD 10,222,000 (2011)
OwnerMa family
Number of employees
587
ParentSincere Group (The Sincere Company, Limited)
Divisions5
Subsidiaries360 °C Advertising, Pacific Falcon Design,Sincere Living Furniture
WebsiteSincere

History
A Sincere store in Central, Hong Kong, circa 1941.

Founded by Ma Ying Piu in 1900 after returning from Australia[2] and partnership with others to form the first Chinese department store in then British Hong Kong.[3] Ma was inspired by his experience with retail stores in Sydney.[4] and modelled Sincere after David Jones.[5] Now, the company is owned by the Ma family.

Until it closed in 1954, Sincere's Shanghai branch was one of the "four great companies" of Shanghai. Sincere opened in Shanghai in 1917, the first Chinese-owned department store and the first of the "Four Great Companies", which were large department stores modelled on Australian precedent established by Cantonese migrants returning from Australia. The Four Great Companies brought the model of modern department stores with egalitarian service pioneered by Anthony Hordern & Sons to Shanghai and quickly became the focal points of Shanghai's commercial district.[6]

Prior to World War II, Sincere operated in China with stores in Shanghai, Nanning and Guangzhou. The Guangzhou store was destroyed by enemy fire during the war. With the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 the remaining locations were eventually taken over by the Communist state, along with all other private companies in the country. The Shanghai department store closed in 1954 while the attached hotel was part nationalised in 1956.

Sincere returned to mainland China in 1993 by opening a shopping centre at 479 East Nanjing Road in Shanghai.

On 15 May 2020, Realord Group Holdings Limited proposed a voluntary conditional general cash offer to acquire the entire share capital of The Sincere Company Limited. The total cash consideration would be $500 million.[7]

Post 1997
Sincere store in Citywalk, Tsuen Wan in 2011.

Since 1997, Sincere's retailing arm is mostly in Hong Kong with four locations in Hong Kong (Central: Li Po Chun Chambers;Causeway Bay: Percival Street) and Kowloon (Mong Kok: Grand Century Place; Mong Kok: Kingwah Centre; Sham Shui Po: Dragon Centre;Yau Tong: Domain(Yau Tong); and Tsuen Wan: Citywalk 2); there are Chinese location, including Dalian. The Ma family still has a place on the corporate board (Board Chair Walter K.W. Ma, managing director/Executive Director Philip K.H. Ma and board member King Wing Ma), but most day-to-day operations are run by non-family executives. Sincere is one of a few department stores that survived, many foreign and local firms have since disappeared.

Beyond retailing

Today Sincere has grown beyond retailing and diversified its portfolio:

property investment and property development

  • securities trading
  • advertising agency – 360 °C Advertising
  • interior design – Pacific Falcon Design
  • furniture manufacturing – Sincere Living Furniture
  • travel agency franchising – Uniglobe Travel
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References
  1. Shanghai Municipal Archives (2010) Forerunners of modern Chinese department stores – collected archival materials of the four great department stores of Shanghai (《近代中国百货业的先驱——上海四大百货公司档案史料汇编》) Shanghai Bookstore Press, Shanghai
  2. http://www.shanghaiguide.org/Shanghai-Fashion-Holdings-Limited-181.html
  3. http://www.sincere.com.hk/department/lang_en
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. http://guanyu9.blogspot.com/2010/03/sincere-by-name-and-philosophy-for-110.html
  6. "Shopping palaces spread gospel from Down Under", Sydney Morning Herald
  7. "Pre-conditional voluntary cash offer by Realord Asia Pacific Securities Limited on behalf of Realord Group Holdings Limited to acquire all of the issued shares of The Sincere Company Limited" (PDF). 15 May 2020.
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