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In a fast-paced city like Hong Kong where businesses seem to change up every time you walk down the street, it’s rare for a shop to keep their foothold long enough to be considered historic, but Sincere Department Store is one such name. Unfortunately, this century-old brand, one of Hong Kong’s oldest department chains, has announced that it will close its Central store at the end of 2026.
Sincere Company Limited issued a statement on October 4 announcing that the Central store lease will expire on December 31. The department store was unable to reach an agreement with the landlord regarding a lease renewal, and has therefore decided to cease operations around early December this year.
Sincere intends to look for a new location in the Central and Sheung Wan area, where they have always operated, but as of the date of the announcement, a suitable venue has yet to be found. This means that we could be left with only one branch at the King Wah Centre in Mong Kok, as well as Sincere’s online store.
Founded in 1900, Sincere Department Store is the first Chinese-owned department store in British colonial-era Hong Kong, and one of the longest-running in our city. It pioneered fixed pricing, sales receipts, and the employment of female sales clerks. In the 1930s and 1940s, Sincere’s Shanghai location – the first Hongkonger-owned Western style department store then – was hailed as the first of the “Four Great Companies”.
Sincere Department Store originally opened on Queen’s Road Central before moving its main store to Des Voeux Road Central, sourcing fashionable, high-quality apparel and lifestyle goods from around the world. At the peak of its business, Sincere Department Store had six local branches, including Causeway Bay, Sham Shui Po, and Tsuen Wan – the Sham Shui Po Dragon Centre branch closed earlier this January.
The Central store is currently holding a clearance mega sale, so take the chance to refresh your wardrobe and visit this historic Hong Kong business since whether Sincere can ever return to Central and Sheung Wan, where it has stood for over a century, remains to be seen.
Sincere Department Store is located at Li Po Chun Chambers, 189 Des Voeux Road Central, operating from 10am to 7.30pm, seven days a week.
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