By Peter Omopo
September 5, 2025
A historic photograph from the 1940s has resurfaced, capturing the provisions section of the Kingsway Store in Lagos, one of the earliest modern department stores in West Africa.
The image, taken by British photographer E. H. Duckworth (1894–1972) and preserved at the Herskovits Library of African Studies, shows neatly arranged aisles labeled “Sauces,” “Fats,” “Vegetables,” “Soups,” and “Salt,” alongside shoppers and store attendants.
Kingsway Stores was established in 1948 by the United Africa Company (UAC), using the premises of the former Lagos Stores. Headquartered in Lagos, it quickly became a symbol of modern consumerism in colonial Nigeria, introducing a Western-style retail experience that was unprecedented in British West Africa.
For many urban Nigerians, Kingsway represented a shift in shopping culture—offering imported goods, modern packaging, and organized shelf displays that set the standard for retail during the late colonial era.
