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London Stores
Harrods of Knightsbridge is the most famous store in the world, although it began life in 1834 in the East End of London founded by Charles Henry Harrod, who set up his wholesale grocery shop in Stepney, specialising in tea. In 1849, to capitalise on the Great Exhibition of 1851 close by at Hyde Park, he took over a small shop in Knightsbridge on the site of the current store. From humble beginnings employing just two assistants and a messenger, Harrods son Charles built up the store and taking over the adjoining buildings and employing 100 staff by 1880. The stores fortunes were to change in 1883, when it burnt to the ground just before Christmas, with the good name at stake Harrods fulfilled all the Christmas deliveries on time and made a record profit for the store.
Harrods was sold by the family in 1889 and became a public company. The new Managing Director Richard Burbidge, introduced the worlds first escalator installed in 1898 and they had to give brandy to the nervous customers when they reached the top. Still on the same site in Knightsbridge Harrods is the worlds most luxurious department store, and on every visitors must do list.
Arthur Lasenby Liberty was born in Buckinghamshire in 1843, and as a young man worked for the retail shop of Messers Farmer and Rogers in Regent Street. At the age of thirty he started his own small shop at 218a Regent Street, and then eighteen months later he could afford to buy the small shop next door. Selling unusual fabrics and ornaments from the far east and Japan.
Over the next few years with his business growing he was able to purchase some of the neighbouring properties, selling his original fabrics and furnishings of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau periods, produced exclusively by many leading English designers. Liberty decided to distinguish his store from all the other Regent Street buildings by including a life size frieze of figures that gaze down on to the street below.
Also included on the front of the building are four Japanese "Iohan", disciples of Buddha, which sits on a ledge on the first floor to either side of the main entrance. The more famous of the two buildings is the Tudor shop. The Tudor shop was built in 1924 from the timbers of two ships: HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan. The frontage at Great Marlborough is the same length as the Hindustan. Arthur Liberty wanted to create the feeling that you were walking around your own home when you came to his store, so each room was surrounded by smaller rooms to create a homely feel. Many of the rooms had fireplaces and some still exist today. Sadly the founder of Liberty, Arthur Lasenby Liberty, died in 1917, seven years before the completion of his two magnificent shops. But the tradition continued.
Tudor Ship weather vane on Liberty's roof top.
John Lewis, born in 1836, was an apprentice to a draper in Wells, from where he moved to Bridgewater and then to Liverpool. Upon a sudden impulse he borrowed a sovereign from a Frenchman and came to London.
John Lewis began working for Peter Robinson as a buyer, and was just turned 28 when he decided to lease a shop in Oxford Street, where he sold ribbons and haberdashery and by 1870, he expanded into linens. He knew how to buy well and was scrupulously honest, quickly gaining a reputation for good value.
Over the next 20 years, the shop grew considerably. First by leasing buildings in Hollies Street, and then by the acquisition of more shops in Oxford Street, and finally, in 1895, he purchase Cavendish Buildings.
In 1905, he purchased the ailing Peter Jones of Sloane Square and put his son Spedan in charge. In 1928, at the age of 92, John Lewis died and, as his other son Oswald had withdrawn from the business in 1926, the management of both shops were ran entirely by Spedan Lewis.
Spedan Lewis believed that the profits from a company should be shared with the workers who had produced them. It was with this partnership of the workforce, that he had succeeded in making a success of Peter Jones.
When he inherited the Oxford Street shop, he extended his scheme. He set up a structure whereby workers were Partners, and in 1929 the John Lewis Partnership was born.
He extend the Oxford Street premises in 1928 taking over a property on the other side of Holles Street and connected it to the existing building by an underground tunnel. During the 1930s, the shop continued to flourish, but on Wednesday 18 September 1940, disaster struck. An oil bomb fell on the West House, and the fire, fanned by a strong wind, crossed to the East House.
It took a day and a half to put the fire out, despite all the damage, the shop reopened for business within a few weeks. It was not until 1954 that any rebuilding took place and then it was decided to rebuild the premises onto one site. On 17 October 1960, the new John Lewis store in Oxford Street was officially opened, and looked from the outside much the same as it looks today.
Fortnum and Mason
During the reign of Queen Anne in 1707 William Fortnum became one of her footmen, and every evening he would replace the old candles with new ones.
He would duly sell the old candles to the queens ladies-in-waiting for a nice little profit that helped him with his sideline of selling groceries.
Still lighting the way in Piccadilly
A this same time enter Mr Hugh Mason who was the landlord to the grocery business, and William enticed him into the running of the shop and called it
Fortnum and Mason trading in Piccadilly at the same spot they are at today.
In 1761 William’s grandson Charles who was in the service of Queen Charlotte was to increase the business with delicacies such as game in
aspic jelly embellished prawns and lobsters.
On through the Napoleonic wars , and Crimean wars with orders sent by Queen Victoria to supply tea to the field hospitals.
Up to the present day where going for tea at Fortnum and Mason’s is still the done thing to do.
Lillywhites
When you say the words Lillywhites one thought comes to mind and that is of the largest sports store in London.
It all started back in the 19th century when most of the Lillywhite family were to be found on the cricket greens of England. One family member Fred Lillywhite was responsible for organising the first cricket match by an English team to North America in 1859. The current shop first opened its doors at Piccadilly Circus in 1925, selling sporting specialties like croquet, tennis and of course cricket equipment. With so much completion in sports stores that were opening all across the country from the 2002, Lillywhite fell into financial ruin and were saved by the sale to Sports World International. The world famous Piccadilly Store has retained its Lillywhite name and trades at the hub of London under the watchful eye of Eros.
HMV the music retailer business, started up in 1921 when the first HMV store was opened at 363 Oxford Street, London. Today 363 Oxford Street is occupied by the Foot Locker store an American sportswear retailer, HMV are still in Oxford Street with their Megastore at number 360 and also another at number 150 at the other end. HMV'S original name stood for His Masters Voice, with their logo of a dog with its ear to a gramophone speaker.
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