In the early part of the last century, three international department store brands dominated the Singapore market. Two of them still exist today – John Little and Robinsons. The third – Whiteaways – ceased operations in 1960, but we are fortunate to have Victor to remind us about this store’s illustrious past.

Whiteaways was more of an everyday name, as Victor finds out:

The department store’s full name was quite a mouthful – Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Co. Ltd. Its Chinese name was Hui Luo You Xian Gong Si (惠羅有限公司). The company was incorporated in England. In its heydays, Whiteaway was a giant company. It had branches in about 20 cities all over the world. Regionally, it had stores in the Straits Settlements, including Singapore, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Taiping, Seremban, Klang, Malacca and Telok Anson.

In his post, Victor digs up old images of Whiteaways in Singapore, from pictures of the old buildings in Battery Road and Cecil Street, as well as the store’s interior and the advertisements it used to run.Check out this nugget of Singapore’s shopping history in Nothing over $10.