Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur, dating back to the 1840s, was the epicenter of early Chinese settlement and commerce in the Malay Peninsula. Known in Cantonese as Chee Cheong Kai, it reflects the legacy of Yap Ah Loy, a pivotal figure in local Chinese enterprise. Over time, this area became home to numerous laozihao (老字号) or legacy businesses, such as Bunn Choon Restaurant, Kong Wooi Fong Tea Merchants, and Kien Fatt Medical Store. These multi-generational enterprises have functioned not merely as commercial establishments but as cultural institutions that preserve Chinese cultural identity and embody collective memory. Through daily practices, intergenerational succession, and community networks, they fostered both material livelihood and intangible cultural continuity within the immigrant Chinese community. Despite pressures of modernization, tourism, and urban redevelopment, many of these businesses continue to serve as living archives of Chinese cultural memory, negotiating between tradition and contemporary relevance. The continued vernacular use of ‘Chee Cheong Kai’ underscores the enduring symbolic and mnemonic power of these spaces within the Malaysian Chinese cultural landscape. This study explores how legacy businesses along Petaling Street operate as custodians of cultural memory, illuminating the resilience, adaptability, and evolving identity of a Malaysian Chinese community across generations.