Page 30 - Sphere No.24 (Mar 2009)

T H E N . . . A N D N O W
PHOTO:KEITH CHAN 28 SPHERE
W ATSONS IS ONE of the longest-established health and
beauty brand names in Asia. The company began in
1828 as a small dispensary in Guangzhou, southern
China, and moved to Hong Kong in 1841, where it was known
as the Hong Kong Dispensary.
Then... By the time the hand-written catalogue below was
produced in 1881, the business was in pretty good shape and
the retail outlets were known as Watsons the Chemist, proud-
ly supplying Hong Kong customers of the day with Chinese
and Western medicine.
Now... Today, the A S Watson Group is the largest health
and beauty retailer in the world, with operations in 31
countries. While the old catalogue has been replaced with
online brochures and the range of products has expanded
enormously, the spirit of the original enterprise and
desire to serve customers, wherever they may be,
will never be extinguished.
Case History