07. August 2023

Although cocoa was introduced to Europe sometime in the 16th century it was not until the Industrial Revolution that new processes emerged which sped the production of chocolate and with that the development of an affordable mass market product. In 1824, John Cadbury, began selling tea, coffee and drinking chocolate in Bull Street in Birmingham, England. In 1847, John became a partner with his brother Benjamin and the company became known as "Cadbury Brothers”. The new firm began exporting...

14. February 2022

Much has been written about old Shanghai’s famous temples of consumption such as the Sincere Co. opened in 1917 and the Wing-on established one year later in 1918. Little though is known about Tianjins (then called Tientsin) commercial retail history, even though it then was the second largest treaty port of China in terms of international population with up to 9 foreign concessions.

18. October 2021

Crane Stores, Shoers & Hatters (鶴鳴鞋帽商店) was founded by the father of Jefferson Young, who soon after the opening of the first Shanghai store in 1936 took over the family business. The firm swiftly expanded to several locations in Shanghai and subsequently in Nanjing and Hong Kong. By 1950 it had 13 stores nationwide. Jefferson Young moved to Hong Kong in 1951 where he continued to manage the local Crane subsidiary. In 1952, Crane expanded to Singapore, soon after to Penang and...