The company remodeled itself from a small department store network of 4 locations prior to 1983, in which year Cargills opened the first Food City supermarket in Colombo. In the years that followed, Cargills ventured into the FMCG and quick service restaurant space, successfully establishing itself as a leading player in each of the sectors.
The beginnings In 1844 British businessman William Milne started Milne & Company, general warehousemen, importers of oilman stores etc, with branches in Kandy and Galle. In 1850 Milne was joined by his friend,
David Sime Cargill, and the firm became Milne, Cargill & Co. In 1860, Milne retired from business in Ceylon and moved back to
Scotland to form a company in Glasgow to look after the business of Cargill & Co. in the UK. Cargill became the sole partner until he was joined by David MacKenzie and the name was changed to Cargill & Co. The company had a Colombo office at the intersection of Price and York Streets in
Colombo Fort, a
Kandy office at Upper Lake Road and an office in
Galle Fort at 22 Pedlar Street. The Galle office was closed down in 1863. In 1890 the business expanded with the purchase of Medical Hall, a chemist and druggist company. Cargills also established another company, Sime & Co., It was subsequently occupied by the first
British Governor of Ceylon, Sir
Frederick North, who lived there for a short time before moving to a spacious villa in
Hulftsdorp. The building was acquired by Cargills in 1896, while D.S. Cargill was Chairman, Walter Hamilton was the Director and William Jenkins was the General Manager. Construction of the current building commenced in 1902, it was designed by
Edward Skinner, built by
Walker Sons and Company and completed in 1906. A foundation stone dated 1684 and a wooden statue of
Minerva (
Roman goddess of wisdom, arts and trade), and entered another growing category with the acquisition of a manufacturing plant, now marketed under the Kist brand. In 2011, the Company secured a provisional
commercial banking license from the
Central Bank of Sri Lanka and commenced operations in 2014. Cargills acquired the franchise license for
T.G.I. Friday's and opened its first restaurant at
Colombo Fort in October 2013. The restaurant was later relocated to the
One Galle Face mall in Colombo. That same year, Cargills opened the first Cargills Square shopping mall in Jaffna, with the Group's brands being the anchor tenants. These shopping and entertainment malls consists of Cinemas, restaurants, and retail outlets. Cargills has opened five such shopping complexes to date, located in
Jaffna,
Gampaha,
Dematagoda,
Bandarawela, and Katubedda. Cargills along with its parent company CT Holdings also own the Ceylon Theatres cinema business which operates the Regal and Majestic Cinemas. ==References==