It’s a retail icon and the largest department store on London’s Oxford Street, selling everything from hi-fis to high fashion. And this year, Selfridges, the discerning shopper’s mecca, is 100 years old, with centenary celebrations kicking off this month and continuing all summer.
When it opened on 15 March 1909 , 90,000 people came through the department store doors on the first day alone – all seeking a glimpse of this revolution in shopping. Founded by American entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge , it was the first dedicated department store built from scratch in London and was launched with the largest advertising campaign ever mounted in the British press.
The Oxford street store, Selfridge declared, was to be much more than merely a place to shop, it would entertain and thrill visitors too, with shows, events and innovative window displays. In 1909, after the first cross-Channel flight, Louis Bleriot’s monoplane was exhibited there, and the first public demonstration of television by John Logie Baird took place in the store in April 1925.
Despite the trials of the Great Depression and bombing raids during WWII, Selfridges has retained its position at the cutting edge of the retail industry over the decades, with further stores opening in Manchester and Birmingham. The current owners, Canadian businessman Galen Weston and his family, continue to follow in Harry Selfridge’s footsteps, endeavouring to provide an inspiring shopping experience.
If you’re in the store this month, watch out for entertainment hosted by a specially formed troupe, the Selfridgettes. Dressed in iconic Selfridges yellow, they’ll be in the Oxford Street department store every Friday and Saturday. Every weekend there will be quirky events, too, from fashion shows to cabaret and live music – all part of May’s Big Yellow Festival.
Check out the Ultralounge on the lower ground floor too, where an exhibition looking at the London store’s evolution will run all summer, with rare archive images, carrier bags from all decades, and the glass table on which visiting celebrities, from Elizabeth Taylor to Kylie Minogue, have signed their names with a diamond-tipped pen. And, of course, the legendary window displays will be working hard, featuring fun scenes from past decades and whimsical installations on future living.
For more information, visit selfridges.com .
Discover the London shopping mall that blends 19th-century elegance with 21st-century know-how.
