Watsons () is a
Hong Kong health care
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
and
beauty care chain store in
Asia and
Europe. It is the flagship health and beauty brand of the
A.S. Watson Group
A.S. Watson Group (or A.S. Watson or ASW) is the world's largest international health and beauty retailer, with over 16,000 stores in 27 markets worldwide serving over 5.3 billion customers every year, and over 137 million loyalty programme mem ...
, which is majority owned by
CK Hutchison Holdings.
It operates near 8,000 stores and 1,500 pharmacies in 14 Asian and European markets, including
Hong Kong,
Indonesia,
Macau,
mainland China,
Malaysia, the
Philippines,
Singapore,
Taiwan,
Thailand,
Turkey,
United Arab Emirates,
Ukraine,
Russia and
Vietnam.
History
Founding and move to Hong Kong
Dr. Thomas Boswell Watson (1815–1860), from
Scotland, was the first member of the Watson family to arrive in the
Far East, where in 1845 he set up a private practice in
Macau.
[ p. 221] After selling his practice to a fellow doctor, he moved to Hong Kong in 1856 where he became part owner of the Hong Kong Dispensary, an offshoot of the
Canton
Canton may refer to:
Administrative division terminology
* Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland
* Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French
Arts and ent ...
Dispensary which operated from 1828 to 1858.
Known as the "Big Medicine Shop" (;
Cantonese: ''Dai Yeuk Fong''), the dispensary's main customers were soldiers and sailors. The dispensary was not known as A.S. Watson until 1870, although Alexander Skirving Watson took over in 1858 following management changes.
T. B. Watson sent his family back to Scotland in 1857, and he himself followed two years later.
Following the death of Dr T. B. Watson in 1860, the Hong Kong Dispensary was leased to A. S. Watson and two other doctors, and onwards from 1862, the name A.S. Watson featured prominently at the Hong Kong Dispensary. In 1871, the Watson family leased the company to
Dr John David Humphreys and Dr Arthur Hunt, and thereafter trading was executed under the name A.S. Watson & Company.
The company entered China and the Philippines in 1883, but withdrew from both countries in 1910.
Retail outlets were known as "Watsons the Chemist". The current owners, Hutchison Group, acquired a controlling interest in A.S. Watson & Co., Ltd in 1963. In 1981, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.
At this time, the group had 75 retail outlets.
International expansion
In the late 1980s, the chain expanded to other parts of Asia. The first modern Watsons store outside Hong Kong opened in the Portuguese territory of
Macau in late May 1987.
The first Watsons in
Taiwan opened in September 1987, and by May 1991 the number of Taiwanese locations numbered 25.
The first Watsons store in
Singapore opened on 29 April 1988, with the chain expanding to operate 27 outlets across the city-state by 1993.
The first Watsons store in China opened in April 1989. Located in Beijing's newly opened
Palace Hotel, the shop's products were all shipped from Hong Kong, and were therefore for sale in
foreign exchange certificates only. Watson's management thus expected the shop's customers to mainly comprise foreign tourists. The Palace Hotel was partly owned by the
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
, which required all shop staff to complete a month-long boot camp.
Watsons personal care stores were subsequently opened in
Malaysia (1994) and
Thailand (1996).
The first Watsons store in
Indonesia opened on 13 January 2006 in Jakarta.
In 2019, Watsons reached 7,800 stores and expanded to Vietnam, the 13th operating market of Watsons.
In 2020, Al-Futtaim and A.S. Watson Group have signed a franchise agreement to open stores of healthcare and beauty chain Watsons in the Gulf. Watsons opened its first flagship store at the Dubai Mall in October 2020.
Operations
As of 2021, there are around 8,000 stores and more than 1,500 pharmacies in 14 Asian and European markets, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A.S. Watson Retail, as well as the Watson chain of stores in Hong Kong, is headquartered in Watson House,
Fo Tan, Hong Kong. An 11-storey distribution centre opened in April 1983.
References
External links
Customer website
{{GS Group
Retail companies established in 1828
Hong Kong brands
AS Watson
Retail companies of China
Pharmacies of China
Pharmacy brands
Retailing in Hong Kong