|
|
|
Harrod is probabaly the most well known Shop in The World.
Harrods is located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air Harrods.
The store occupies a 4.5-acre (18,000 m2) site and has
over one million square feet of selling space in over 330 departments.
This makes Harrods the largest department store in the world (the UK's
second-biggest store, Oxford Street's Selfridges is a little over half the size with 540,000-square-foot (50,000 m2) of selling space).
The Harrods motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique —- All Things for All People, Everywhere. Several of its departments, including the seasonal Christmas department and the Food Hall are world famous. The nearest tube station to the store is Knightsbridge. An entrance to the station is positioned adjacent to the store.
Harrods phone number: 020 7730 1234 History
Since the store first opened its doors in 1849, Harrods has always
prided itself on a reputation for excellence, that nothing is too much
trouble to our customers, and finding the finest-quality merchandise.
But this is just part of the Harrods story. The store is much more than
a shopping destination, more than just a splendid building. Its story
is tied up in the people who have passed through its doors, worked
here, written about it and added to its magnificent architecture.
Noël Coward, Sigmund Freud, Oscar Wilde, Queen Mary, AA Milne and
Pierce Brosnan have each added their own mark to the store's rich
patina – and as each year goes on, Harrods continues to grow, adapt,
reassess and reinvent itself to create a new history.
The Early Days
The Harrods story started in 1834 in London’s East End, when founder
Charles Henry Harrod set up as a wholesale grocer in Stepney, with a
special interest in tea. In 1849, to escape the filth of the inner city
– and capitalise on trade to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in nearby
Hyde Park – Harrod took over a small shop in the new district of
Knightsbridge on the site of the current store. From a single room
employing two assistants and a messenger boy, Harrod’s son Charles
Digby built up the business into a thriving store selling medicines,
perfumes, stationery, fruit and vegetables, expanding into the
adjoining buildings and employing 100 staff by 1880. But the store’s
booming fortunes changed in 1883, when it burnt to the ground in early
December; with true Harrods mettle, Charles Digby fulfilled all the
Christmas deliveries – and made a record profit for the store. A new
building immediately rose from the ashes, and soon it extended credit
for the first time to its best customers – among them Oscar Wilde and
legendary actresses Lilly Langtry and Ellen Terry.
|
|
|
|
