THE BIG FOUR OF OLD COLOMBO-by Ifham Nizam Source:Island THE BIG FOUR DEPARTMENT STORES OF OLD COLOMBO By the 1950s Colombo’s plush Fort area had come to have four well known department stores in the best European tradition. These were Cargills, Millers, Whiteaways and Colombo Apothecaries. These were Colombo’s ‘BIG FOUR’ and all of them seem to have been based on the British model of a Department Store in the fashion of Harrods of London. A shopping complex with various departments under one roof was of course a great convenience to shoppers. Department stores of this nature also had a reputation to maintain and stocked only products of the highest quality and some even extended credit to more loyal customers. In one-time colonies like Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, patronizing these high-end stores were a status symbol as well. For instance we have a Ceylonese writer, J.Vijayatunga stating in his book ...
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THE BIG FOUR OF OLD COLOMBO-by Ifham Nizam Source:Island In this series of interviews on Colombo’s heritage, we cover the Great Department Stores of Old Colombo. Historian Asiff Hussein, the Author of The Great Days of Colombo. Q: In your book ‘The Great Days of Colombo’ you had mentioned that by the 1950s Colombo Fort had four well known department stores in the best European tradition. These were Cargills, Millers, Whiteaways and Colombo Apothecaries. Could you tell us what were the reasons that led to their emergence and why they were so popular at the time? A: Yes, I would call them Colombo’s Big Four. All of them emerged in the early 1900s and had their heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. These were all based on the British model of a Department Store, in the fashion of Harrods of London. In fact, they may have even been inspired by ...
