Watsons

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Personal and health care chain store

title: "Watsons" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["retail-companies-established-in-1828", "hong-kong-brands", "as-watson", "retail-companies-of-china", "pharmacies-of-china", "pharmacy-brands", "retailing-in-hong-kong"] description: "Personal and health care chain store" topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watsons" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Personal and health care chain store ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Watsons
logo	Watsons logotype.svg
type	Subsidiary
image	File:Watsons Baifu Store 20210512 night.jpg
image_caption	A Watsons store in Keelung, Taiwan
foundation
location	Hong Kong
key_people	Dominic Lai
Malina Ngai
area_served
industry	Pharmacy
Health care
Beauty care
parent	AS Watson
homepage
::

Watsons () is a Hong Kong health care and beauty care chain store in Asia and Europe. It is the flagship health and beauty brand of AS Watson, which is majority owned by CK Hutchison Holdings.

It operates 8,000 stores and 1,500 pharmacies in 15 Asian and European markets, including Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, mainland China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Its South Korean branch closed down in 2021.

History

Founding and move to Hong Kong

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. 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 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 followed two years later.

Following the death of 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 John David Humphreys and Arthur Hunt, and thereafter trading was 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, which required all shop staff to complete a month-long boot camp.

Watsons personal care stores were subsequently opened in Malaysia (1994), Thailand (1996), and a revival in the Philippines (2002) after 92 years. The first Watsons store in Indonesia opened on 13 January 2006 in Jakarta.

In 2019, Watsons reached 7,800 stores and expanded to Vietnam, its 13th operating market.

In 2020, Al-Futtaim and AS Watson have signed a franchise agreement to open stores of healthcare and beauty chain Watsons in the Gulf region. Watsons opened its first flagship store at The Dubai Mall in October 2020.

In 2024, Watsons opened its 8,000th store at SM Mall of Asia in the Philippines.

On 7 January 2025, Watsons reopened its Singapore flagship store at Ngee Ann City after a revamp.

Operations

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Watsons_at_the_Ayala_Center_Cebu_(2024-04-09).jpg" caption="A Watsons store at [[Ayala Center Cebu]], [[Cebu City]], [[Philippines"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Telford_Plaza_Phase_1_Watsons_2017.jpg" caption="A Watsons store in [[Hong Kong"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Watsons_Singapore_Flagship_Store.jpg" caption="Watsons Singapore Flagship Store at Ngee Ann City." alt="Watsons Singapore Flagship Store"] ::

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, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

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

(27 January 2022). "Watsons Expands into Middle East with New Stores Across GCC".
Ray Chan. (22 March 2014). "Li Ka-shing sells nearly 25pc of AS Watson to Singapore investment giant Temasek". South China Morning Post.
Dan Waters. (1990). "Hongs Kong's Hongs with Long Histories and British Connections". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch.
(27 October 2018). "The story of A.S. Watson: from a Hong Kong pharmacy to world's largest health and beauty group". South China Morning Post.
(24 May 1987). "Watson's in Taiwan expansion". South China Morning Post.
(3 June 1987). "Watson's opens in Macau". South China Morning Post.
(5 September 1987). "Taiwan – a retailer's dream". South China Morning Post.
(29 May 1991). "Watson to open 200 stores in Taiwan". South China Morning Post.
(30 April 1988). "Major expansion for Watson". South China Morning Post.
(24 October 1993). "Watson's to report gains in Singapore". South China Morning Post.
(17 April 1989). "Watson's comes home with new Beijing store". South China Morning Post.
"Who We Are".
(13 January 2006). "First Watsons Store Opens in Indonesia". A.S. Watson Group.
"Hong Kong's Watsons dives into Vietnam's crowded beauty market".
"Watsons Opens its First Store in the Middle East at The Dubai Mall".
(November 8, 2024). "Sy family attends the opening of Watsons' 8,000th store in SM MOA". [[ABS-CBN]].
Lim, Louisa. (Jan 9, 2025). "Style News: Watsons revamps flagship store, Culture Cartel returns, Celine opens new boutique". The Straits Times.
"Watsons". A.S. Watson Group.
(28 April 1983). "Watson's new centre opened". South China Morning Post.

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