Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin Retail company. The company is headed by Indian- born Mustaq Ahmad who, in 1971, started the business with his father and another relative in a small shop on Campbell Lane. The company started out by selling ready- made garments. A second shop, at which electronic goods were sold, was opened two years later. In 1985, the business expanded, moving into a 3,700- square- metre department store in Serangoon Plaza.

The six- storey Mustafa Centre was opened in 1995 after the family acquired and redeveloped a row of shophouses along Syed Alwi Road. The company eventually came to employ some 600 people, and had an annual turnover of about $360 million in 2005.

Besides department stores, the company has also opened a supermarket, jewellery store, pharmacy, hotel and travel agency, as well as an ‘on- line’ store. In 2003, it began 24- hour trading.

In later years, Mohamed Mustafa & Samsuddin started to expand into overseas markets. It opened a jewellery shop in Chennai, India, with plans to open more outlets on the Indian subcontinent, and in Sri Lanka.

Photo credit: Singapore Press Holdings/The New Paper