From Bananas to Department Stores

The Museum of Chinese in Australia will feature many stories, both past and present.

Here is one of those fascinating stories as told by Gordon Mar. His remarkable story begins in 1890 when his forebears and kinsfolk establish a fruit store in Haymarket on the corner of Hay and Sussex Streets.

How this business, Wing Sang & Co, not only became a thriving fruit and banana business for nearly a century but how some of these merchants branched into establishing the 'big four' Shanghai and Hong Kong department stores: Sincere, Wing On, The Sun and Sun Sun, is a fascinating tale.