The retail company Tangs was founded by Tang Choon Keng, an immigrant from Swatow, China, who arrived in Singapore in 1923. Initially an itinerant hawker, Tang began operating his first retail outlet, House of Tang, in 1932 out of a rented shop space at River Valley Road. In 1940, the store was relocated to the new C.K. Tang Building built just across the street. The building was later renamed Gainurn Building after Tang's father, Tang Gan Urn. The company expanded further with the construction of a new House of Tang in 1958 on a site along Orchard Road. Following disputes with labour unions, the store was closed down in 1961 and reopened as C.K. Tang the following year. The building was eventually torn down to make way for a new complex, opened in 1982, that comprised the Dynasty Hotel and Tangs Department Store. The hotel was later renamed the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel while the flagship store continues to operate out of the shopping complex now known as Tang Plaza.
