Dr. Thomas Boswell Watson, 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, on the southwest coast of China. 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", 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, which required all shop staff to complete a month-long boot camp. Watsons personal care stores were subsequently opened in Malaysia and Thailand. The first Watsons store in Indonesia opened on 13 January 2006 in Jakarta.
Operations
According to the A.S. Watson website, there are approximately 7,600 Watsons stores and 1,500 pharmacies in 13 countries, namely China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia. A.S. Watson Retail, as well as the Watsons chain of stores in Hong Kong, is headquartered in Watson House, Fo Tan, Hong Kong, an 11-storey distribution centre opened in April 1983.
