Monday, January 10, 2011

Remain of Super Kinta Signboard

Super Kinta Departmental Stores, a name that almost none of Ipoh citizen do not know. People normally call it Super Kinta or in Cantonese "Kan Ta" (近打) by only mention the word Kinta. This departmental store is a member of George Town Holdings which ran another retailing business in Penang, the well-known Super Komtar. If I remember correctly, Super Kinta started business in 1983, located at 2nd & 3rd floor of Ipoh Central Market, which is a square-O-shape building. Although as mentioned above it occupied 2 floors, but it appeared to be single floor under one ceiling. Therefore, the whole departmental store looked spacious & tall. This had made it significantly different from other supermarkets at that time, such as Angel's, Crescendo, Perak Emporium & Beauty that operated in multi-floor but narrow building. As a result, one after another of these supermarkets closed down in the competition.


However, as the Chinese say, fortune is always taking turns (风水轮流转). After more than two decades of glorious era, Super Kinta finally faced its fatal challenge from the modern shopping malls, Ipoh Parade & Kinta City, during the end of 1990's. Apart from departmental store, the new malls provide more choices for shopping & entertainment, such as fashion outlets, cinemas, bowling center, restaurants, etc. Even Super Kinta practiced major interior renovation at interval of few years to keep it up to date, the building had limited its transformation to stay on par with latest trend & new customer expectations. Finally, Super Kinta ends its chapter around 2004. Since then we hardly see its name & logo appear in public, and after so many years close down, we even difficult to find its plastic bag nowadays. To my surprise, the alley I used to pass by frequently but I never realize that there is one last signboard of Super Kinta which shows the way to its main entrance still pinned on the wall of Ipoh Central Market building. I believe this logo has been faded away from many of our mind and hope these photos could help recall some of our memories about this legendary departmental store in Ipoh. About this logo, I find it to be apparently a symbolic presentation of the location of its sister store in Penang, the Komtar Tower, which also experience the similar fate of closing down.

13 comments:

  1. in 1983, I just lived opposite super kinta and I was there during it's opening ceremony, as a kid. After that, every night and day, I woke up seeing this dept store which has become a part of the neighborhood. I no longer stayed there but this will remain as a part of my childhood and teen memories.

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  2. Hi Chris, it seems u witnessed a historical moment of Ipoh :) Anyway, it's sad about Super Kinta's closing; in my mind i still can remember clearly how it looked like from the main staircase, to the info counter, then turn right to the supermarket, bakery, food court,.....all sweet memories. And one more thing, Chinese New Year is just around the corner. I remember my parents would always bring us to Super Kinta to buy new shirts.

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  3. It was opened on January 27. 1983.. my mom was about to go shopping that night when instead of Super Kinta, she headed for Fatimah instead.. I decided to come out, but not until 12 hours later..

    Perhaps I believed that's why I love shopping, just like the ladies in the family..

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  4. This must e a good day! Remember Super Kinta was very concern on fengsui & fortune

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  5. How sad it is for Ipohites to see once glorious 'Super Kinta' closed down for good! What has become of the space now? Can anyone shed light on this?

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  6. good news,d state gomen is planning to revive super kinta into a it mall but still got no actions yet. maybe most of d traders in d central market refused to moved out

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  7. btw,i feel like wanna break into dat place & take some photos

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  8. Hi, just a nice article. anyone here remember the name of Super Kinta bakery. The best mexican bun ever.

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  9. Anyone remember the name of fast food cafe inside Super Kinta?

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  10. Im also looking for the name of the bakery in super kinta. The bakery's mexican bun simply the best at that time!! Nowdays bread simply far or not even close to the taste of the legendary bun!!

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  11. Im also looking for the name of the bakery in super kinta. The bakery's mexican bun simply the best at that time!! Nowdays bread simply far or not even close to the taste of the legendary bun!!

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  12. Their favorite anthem song is 'morning has broken' by Cat Stevens. It will be played daily at 9.50am before the store opens to public.

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