National Dollar Stores

National Dollar Stores, Ltd. (Chinese: 中興公司, often romanized as Chung Hing), formerly known as China Toggery and Sang Lee Dry Goods, was a Chinese American-owned dry goods store chain that operated primarily in the western United States from 1903 to 1996.[1][2] Founded by Joe Shoong (a Chinese-American businessperson and philanthropist) in 1903 and incorporated in 1921, the National Dollar Stores were the first retail chain on the West Coast and one of the largest Chinese American-owned retail chains in U.S. history.[3][1][4]

The chain was originally named China Toggery, or Chung Hing (中兴), meaning “revival” or “resurgence” of China in Chinese.[5] The store was headquartered in San Francisco at 927-929 Market Street from 1905. In 1928, Shoong changed the name from China Toggery to the National Dollar Store.[1]

According to an article in SFGATE, the store's customers were mostly “low-income people, often minorities.”[2] By 1959, there were 54 National Dollar Stores in six western states, employing approximately 700 workers.[6] The stores sold clothing and small household goods, with the aim of offering quality merchandise at affordable prices.

  1. ^ a b c Chow, Richard W. (2017). My Memories of the National Dollar Stores. Unpublished manuscript.
  2. ^ a b Armstrong, David (1996-02-15). "National Dollar's last discount". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  3. ^ Ullman, Sidney. “United States of America Before the Securities and Exchange Commission In the Matter of THE NATIONAL DOLLAR STORES, LTD - Initial Decision.” Securities and Exchange Commission. Feb 1 1968.
  4. ^ “Business: Toggery Trouble.” Time. March 28, 1938.
  5. ^ Ng, Franklin. (1999). “Joe Shoong (1879-1961): Business Leader, Philanthropist” in Distinguished Asian Americans: a Biographical Dictionary, ed. Kim et al. Greenwood. pp. 319-321. ISBN 0313289026.
  6. ^ “Obituaries: Joe Shoong, 81, Bay Financier.” The San Francisco Examiner, page 19. April 15, 1961.