HARRODS – Luxury departmental store
Harrods is on a 5-acre site with 330 departments. The store was established in 1849 by Charles Henry Harrod and began as a humble grocery shop with just three employees. Steady expansion went from strength to strength and was the first store to give credit to it’s well-heeled neighbours. The Green Man pub was the first store to have a public house which was housed in the basement. It closed in 2010.
The first moving ’stepless’ staircase or escalator as later known, was unveiled by Harrods in Knightsbridge in 1898. It had 224 leather steps joined together and leather side rails in silver and mahogany. Customers unnerved by the new experience were attended by staff positioned at the top, dispensing free smelling salts and cognac to revive any anxious customers.
Harrods is known world wide. In 1986, Harrods then owner Mohammed Al Fayed launched a legal campaign against Henry Harrod a restaurant owner in New Zealand in the town of Otorohanga who wanted to name his restaurant Harrods. In response, every business in the town changed its name to Harrods, and the District Council temporarily changed the town’s name to Harrodsville. Media coverage ensued, and Al Fayed dropped the lawsuit.
Harrods used to have an animal department – known as Harrods Pet Store, with all sorts of exotic animals from snakes to lions, to alligators to monkeys and elephants. The playwright Noel Coward bought himself an alligator as a Christmas gift to himself and Ronald Reagan acquired himself an elephant called Gertie. The pet department closed in 2014.
The customer dress code policy was introduced in 1989 has always been strict and still applies today, but is now referred to as Visitor Guidelines:
** No clothing that reveals intimate parts of the body, or which portrays offensive pictures or writing
** No wearing of crash helmets in the store
** For security reasons, they ask customers wearing Google Glasses to remove them while in areas where they do not allow photography
There are between 11,000-12,000 light bulbs on the outside of the building with a rumoured 300 needing to be replaced every day. The current owners are the Qatar Investment Authority.