Selfridges or Selfridges & Co. is a British high-end department store chain. The business was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridges in 1909 and the flagship store on London’s Oxford Street is the second largest shop in the United Kingdom.
Harry Gordon Selfridges’ relentless, ground-breaking marketing is visible in the Oxford Street store. He went to a whole new level and tried to make shopping something like an adventure rather than a chore. Selfridge put merchandise on display so that customers could examine it. He put the highly efficient perfume counter on the ground floor where it would make the most impact on customers thereby increasing sales. His technique is still used in modern department stores around the world.
The business grew and expanded over the years and included 15 provincial stores to its list of stores. However, these stores were sold to the John Lewis Partnership in the 1940s. The Liverpool based Lewis’s chain of department stores acquired the famous Oxford Street store, which was in turn purchased by the Sears Group owned by Charles Clore in 1965. After its demerger from Sears in 1998, Selfridges expanded and opened a brand new department store in Trafford Centre in Greater Manchester. Following this success, the company announced plans to open its 125,000 square foot store in Exchange Square, Manchester City Centre. The store opened in 2002, and another new 260,000 square foot store was opened in Birmingham’s Bull Ring in 2003.
Selfridges is the ultimate one-stop-shop for smart shoppers. The store emphasises luxury and designer goods, high-end brands, exotic foodstuff and other items in its stores. Selfridges highlights the latest international and UK fashion designers alongside other famous, well-established fashion names. As a department store, Selfridges lives up to its name. You can find everything you expect to search for and more in a department store.
There are four Selfridges’ department stores in the UK; in London, Birmingham, Manchester Trafford Centre and Manchester Exchange Square.
