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The pioneering department store, the finest in the East

Saturday, 5 July 2014 00:20 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

 
 
 Cargills building in Fort in 1867 (above) and in 2001 - Courtesy The Saga of the Colombo Club
  The news of the opening of the Cargills Bank made me delve into the history of Cargills – the departmental store of the colonial era. It’s a fascinating story. It all began in 1844 when British businessman William Milne started ‘Milne & Company, as ‘General Warehousemen, Importers of Oilmanstoroes &c.’ with branches in Kandy and Galle. He was joined by his friend, David Sime Cargill, and the firm became ‘Milne Cargill & Co.’ in 1850. In 1860 William Mine retired from business in Ceylon and moved back to England to form a company in Glasgow to look after the business of Cargill & Co. in the UK. David Cargill became sole Partner until he was joined by another businessman David Mackenzie and the name changed to ‘Cargill & Co’. There were six on the staff in the Colombo office at Price Street/York Street junction in Fort, five in the Kandy office at Upper Lake Road and three in the Galle office at 22 Pedlar Street. The Galle office was closed down in 1863.  

Gradual expansion

The business gradually expanded with the purchase of two companies in 1890. One of them, the ‘Medical Hall,’ paved the way for Cargill & Co. to become Chemists & Druggists. Another company called ‘Sime & Co.’ was formed when Colombo traders started floating companies to sell lower grade goods. The new company (‘Sime’ was Cargills’ second Christian name) catered to these customers. In 1896 Cargill & Co. was converted into a Limited Liability Company registered in Glasgow. Two years later, the company bought James McLaren &Co.’s business in Nuwara Eliya, thereby establishing a branch there. In ‘Mercantile Lore,’ Editor Sir Thomas Villiers describes Cargill as a very able man of a good Scottish family. “He made money rapidly in his business and became the proprietor of coffee estates in Maturata in the 1850s being guided in his investments by his friend, W.M. Thompson with whom he was in partnership in some properties,” he says.  

An iconic building

The Cargills building in the heart of Fort has remained an iconic structure for over a century. It was once the old residence of a Dutch military officer. The first British Governor of Ceylon, Sir Frederick North (1802) lived there for a short time. The present building dates back to 1896. While D.S. Cargill was Chairman at the time, Walter Hamilton was Director and William Jenkins was General Manager. David Sime Cargill died in 1904. By 1906 a brand new, spacious building had come up and the store was rated the finest of its kind in the East. Jan Baldwin, writing in ‘Colombo Heritage,’ made this vivid description of the store: Its stock was extensive and, in those days, travellers who disembarked at the landing jetty would have only two minutes’ walk to this elegant and famous department store. For the ladies there were ‘ready-made dresses and garibaldies, underclothing, hats of all descriptions, sunshades, hosiery, gloves, frillings and all requisites for their wear’. In the gentlemen’s department there were ‘umbrellas, tweeds, ready-made light clothing, boots, shoes, American drills, pipes, tobaccos and cigars in great variety’. Great emphasis was paid those days on the necessity of purchasing a ‘solar topee’ in order to prevent sunstroke and Cargills certainly would have had a wide range of them. European cutters and milliners were employed for the convenience of the customer. The ‘magnificently equipped Dispensary’ where patent medicines of all kinds could be obtained, was also under European management.  

Pioneering concept

Summing up the progress, an advertisement published by ‘The Senior Store’ in 1934 reminded the readers that “ninety years ago, Cargills pioneered the idea of what are now known as department stores – planned to bring broader service to the shopping public. A glance at the archives prove that for nearly a century Cargills have kept abreast of those ideals and in the face of competition, outstripped mediocrity to the extent of achieving an honoured and deserved supremacy, not merely in the locality, but within an ever-widening trading area. “From the early days of Dutch Bungalow-Store to the present proud Emporium, Cargills continue to further the original ideals of service with renewed progressiveness, and can confidently state they are in a position from every point of view to continue that service.” Over the years, Cargills ownership kept changing. On 1 Match 1946 it was registered as a Public Limited Liability Company in Ceylon after Sir Chittampalam Gardiner bought it. In 1981 Ceylon Theatres acquired controlling interest of the company and Anthony Page was appointed Managing Director. He became Chairman in November 1982. Cargills diversified into the food business and launched the first supermarket chain in Sri Lanka. The rest is recent history.  
 
 York Street, Fort in the bygone era of rickshaws, tramcars and trees

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