This four and a half storey building at the crossing of Anderson Road & Clare Street is now occupied by Kamdar, the nationwide well-known textile store. However, for Ipoh citizen above 30's of age, they should know this is originally a popular supermarket in early 1980's, so called Angel (安琪儿). That was the time Ipoh had few supermarkets like Beauty, Crescendo, Perak Emporium, Dayi & Kwong Fatt which were all operating in almost similar scale. When Angel came up, it was one of the largest among all & if I not mistaken, the first escalator in Ipoh is inside this building. During the time when I was a kid, we were so eager to go Angel to ride the escalator & also having ice-cream, which was not available in other supermarkets. For some years, Angel became a most welcomed name in Ipoh. However, the glorious did not last long. When Super Kinta rose with brand new shopping concept & facilities, Angel and other traditional supermarkets were badly hit and eventually sank. It has been so long from the closure of Angel and many thing about it has faded away in memory. Those I can remember clearly are the escalator, ice cream & my first watch that bought from Angel. Anyway, I lost it in a drain in front of school about a year later and the incident claimed so much of my tears.Friday, January 14, 2011
Remembering Angel Supermarket
This four and a half storey building at the crossing of Anderson Road & Clare Street is now occupied by Kamdar, the nationwide well-known textile store. However, for Ipoh citizen above 30's of age, they should know this is originally a popular supermarket in early 1980's, so called Angel (安琪儿). That was the time Ipoh had few supermarkets like Beauty, Crescendo, Perak Emporium, Dayi & Kwong Fatt which were all operating in almost similar scale. When Angel came up, it was one of the largest among all & if I not mistaken, the first escalator in Ipoh is inside this building. During the time when I was a kid, we were so eager to go Angel to ride the escalator & also having ice-cream, which was not available in other supermarkets. For some years, Angel became a most welcomed name in Ipoh. However, the glorious did not last long. When Super Kinta rose with brand new shopping concept & facilities, Angel and other traditional supermarkets were badly hit and eventually sank. It has been so long from the closure of Angel and many thing about it has faded away in memory. Those I can remember clearly are the escalator, ice cream & my first watch that bought from Angel. Anyway, I lost it in a drain in front of school about a year later and the incident claimed so much of my tears.
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This is another place which I frequented since I was a kid. The arcade was my favorite and I almost went there daily for a game of space invaders. It's behind from where I stayed and I can see the words 'angel' lighted up and down at night.
ReplyDeleteChris, it sounds u lived somewhere in between Angel & Super Kinta. U are so lucky because staying in downtown during that time could enjoy all kind of latest facilities & entertainment :-) Supermarkets, cinemas, hawker stalls & all kind of shops were just at walking distance.
ReplyDeleteHi Chun Kee,
ReplyDeleteHahaha...I still remembered one funny incident. My grand uncle, an old man in his late 70s, was lost in this supermarket on his first visit. He went there on his own and could not find the way out! In the end, a salesgirl lead him out and he laughed at himself for being such a country bumpkin. He was from Tanjung Tualang where you could not find any supermarket.
Yeah, I stayed around that area when i was a kid. The town was so lively during the 80s. Now ,when I come back and passed by, it's like a ghost town.
ReplyDeleteYeah Ipohgal, everyone was excited about Angel at that time. And the workers, salesgirls were very helpful too. Furthermore, air conditioning was not popular & supermarkets were very nice place to stay cool :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Chris, although it's slightly improved nowadays where certain spots in downtown are getting lively but it's still not like in the past. I believe it mainly due to the population moving outwards the city center. Currently people come to downtown & concentrated at some entertainment centers or shopping malls, unlike previously people were living at every corner & activities just carried out almost at every street.
ReplyDeleteyeah but now it's kamdar
ReplyDeleteThe first counter you could see after the main entrance was selling fishing rods. My cousin, brother and I spent lots of time
ReplyDeleteadmiring the fishing accessories although we never went fishing : )
Opposite Angel departmental store is an abandon TONG AH HOTEL. Any further info on this building?
DeleteWill be grateful for a reply
Delete... there was a dark incident with Angel in the late 80's. An alleged young shoplifter was caught by the security guard. While waiting for the police the young boy was rumored to be beaten by the security guard which result in death. The victim had a brother who was a soldier. The brother and his soldier friends circled the Angel building with 3 army trucks as a sign of protest. Ipoh people started to boycott Angel and with diminishing customers Angel began its downward spiral ...
ReplyDeletei remember this story too...
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ReplyDeleteMy father told me that Angel collapsed because several of the founder business partners defrauded the other and stole capital from the business or some such, is there any basis to this rumour/gossip?
ReplyDeleteI lived nearby as a kid. If memory serves me right Angel opened in 1980. I remembered that there is a basement and there I bought my first Cornetto ice cream. The toys department was located on the top floor. The air conditioning was great.
ReplyDelete