- John Little (department store)
John Little is a chain of
department store s inSingapore . Established in 1845, John Little is the oldest department store in Singapore.cite web |url= http://www.frommers.com/destinations/singapore/S31571.html|title= Frommers: Specialists' Shopping Centre|accessdate=2007-07-10 |format= |work= ] The John Little chain is owned byRobinson & Co. Limited .The chain currently has six stores in Singapore, at
Marina Square , 228Orchard Road ,Plaza Singapura ,Northpoint Shopping Centre ,Causeway Point andJurong Point . The Marina Square store is John Little's largest outlet which opened in June 2007, while its main store atSpecialists' Shopping Centre (which is scheduled for demolition) along Orchard Road closed on9 July 2007 .cite news | author = | title = Shutters Down, One Last Time | publisher = "The Straits Times " | date =10 July 2007 ]John Little was founded by John M. Little in 1845 at
Raffles Place , then known as Commercial Square. Little then was an employee of F. Martins, who sold his business to Little and Cursetjee Frommurze to form Little, Cursetjee & Co. Frommurze was a well-knownParsee merchant .On
1 July 1845 , Little and Frommurze started their business asauctioneer s andcommission agents, and offered services inretail as well asauction ofproperties such asspice plantation s and valuable householdfurniture . Shoppers could buy tickets to plays, musicals and other performances. Little, Cursetjee & Co. became a popularhangout for locals to hold meetings, and functioned like the modern-day equivalent of a centralbox office .On
30 June 1853 , Little and Frommurze ended their eight-yearpartnership . John Little & Co. was then formed, and John's brother, Martin, was made a partner. The business continued in the same direction and premises. In 1894, John Little & Co. Ltd was registered byHarwood and Stephenson ,London , with a capital of ₤75,000 in ₤20 shares.As Singapore grew as a trading
port in the late 19th century, John Little expanded in the same period. In addition to retail, John Little also operated acar business, a motor garage, afurniture factory, acafé and abeauty salon . From its original one-storey premises in Raffles Place, the store expanded to occupy another floor.In the early 20th century, John Little also set up branches in Malaya; there were branches in
Kuala Lumpur (1914),Penang (1926), andIpoh (1929). However, the advent ofWorld War II and subsequent Japanese Occupation resulted in the closure of these branches.After the
Japanese occupation of Singapore ended in 1945, it took some time for John Little to re-open for business due to lack ofmanpower andmerchandise . In June 1946, John Little resumed business, and subsequently registered such good sales that the store declared a 20%dividend for its ordinaryshareholder s in 1948.In 1955, John Little was acquired by Robinsons. The store was relaunched as "JL" on
29 August 1987 with a newlogo , new image andmerchandise selection. Its main store moved from Raffles Place to several locations before moving into Specialists' Shopping Centre until its closure in July 2007. [cite web |url= http://sg.ksdb.com/510413.page|title= John Little: Only in Singapore|accessdate=2007-07-10 |format= |work= ]Notes and references
External links
* [http://www.johnlittle.com.sg/ Official site]
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