Department store chain Selfridges opened its London flagship in 1909 and now operates three other regional outlets – two in Manchester and one in Birmingham. It was created by Harry Gordon Selfridge with the aim to make shopping a leisure activity and bring consumerism to the UK. The department store has focus on beauty and fashion, and is famed for its window displays, especially at Christmas. In 2019, Selfridges completed a £300m investment programme to overhaul and modernise its store, with a focus on drawing in younger customers, creating experiential retail and “authoritative category destinations”. Compared to London competitors Liberty and Harrods, Selfridges holds a more domestic customer base, reflected in its mix of luxury and mainstream brands, as well as regular pop-up stores within stores. It released its shoppable app in 2016, and relaunched its website in 2014, driving its multichannel capabilities. Growing the online business internationally is a key aim for its future.
The opening of Selfridges’ permanent gaming outlet, in partnership with Smartech, aims to create a new era of experiential retail for gamers.
Following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, “freedom” may have arrived in the UK – but tourists have not. Indeed, it could take years for the volume of visitors, particularly those from Asia, to return to pre-pandemic levels. So how can prime cities like London adapt and innovate to win more spend from domestic consumers?
Selfridges has opened a wedding shop for second-hand garments as part of its sustainability push.
Selfridges’ owner the Weston family has begun a formal auction of the famous department store business.
Selfridges has launched garden centres at several of its stores in a bid to benefit from the pandemic-driven gardening boom.
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