The shutters are coming down on John Little.

Singapore’s oldest department store will close down its final store at Plaza Singapura by January 2017, after 174 years in the local retail scene.

The store has lived through the Great Depression, two World Wars, the Communist Emergency, Maria Hertogh riots, Singapore's road to independence, racial riots, and three major economic recessions in 1985, 1998, and 2008.

John Little traces its history back to when Singapore was a British territory under the Straits Settlements.

In 1842, John Martin Little began working at his relative Francis S. Martin’s store at Commercial Square (present day Raffles Place), as a storekeeper and auctioneer. He would work at the store for the next three years.

On August 30, 1845, Little, together with Parsi merchant Cursetjee Frommurzee, took over Martin’s business and renamed it Little, Cursetjee & Co. However, the partnership ended on July 1, 1853. Nevertheless, Little and his brother carried on with the business, and renamed it John Little & Co.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] John Little building (right) at Raffles Place. Photo from here[/caption]

John Little & Co’s business grew. It diversified its business and product offerings over the years. By 1929, the company had even expanded into Malaya.

During the Japanese Occupation from 1942 to 1945, the company’s business was disrupted. The Japanese army took over John Little’s building at Raffles Place, and replaced it with a Daimaru department store that catered exclusively to Japanese customers.

John Little resumed its business after the war. In 1960, after occupying its Raffles Place building for 117 years, John Little moved out.

Over the years, John Little established stores at various locations in Singapore.

The most well-known and well-remembered of these stores would probably be the one at Specialists’ Shopping Centre, where it stood for more than 20 years before moving out in 2007.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Photo from Wikipedia[/caption]

With the closure, John Little will fade away and join the likes of Yaohan, Daimaru, Sogo, and Printemps in our nostalgic memories.

Top photo adapted from John Little Facebook and here

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