Harrods’ new technology department tests the boundaries of accepted design within the sector. John Ryan reports.

A department store might not be the first place you’d head for if you were in need of a pair of headphones or maybe a digital camera. After all, isn’t that what technology stores are for and won’t they have a better selection?

Possibly, but following the opening of a new technology department in Harrods, the well-heeled might feel inclined to change this view of the sector. Harrods has teamed up with partner Dixons to create a 22,000 sq ft technology offer that puts the Capital’s rival offerings in the shade.

There is the small matter of affordability – or at least that’s what you might suppose – but even this would be largely incorrect. This is an offer that allows you to buy a modest digital camera for £99 or, if you really do feel the need to splash out, a cool £599,995 will secure you a 150-inch TV to grace the wall of your pied-à-terre.

“Do you like our little electrical corner shop?” quips Harrods managing director Michael Ward. This must be one of the few pieces of understatement in a store where everything else is about bigger, brighter and more luxurious. And in spite of the range of prices, the environment is totally at home with the rest of the store, thanks to the efforts of Quentin Bossom, head of store development at Dixons, and his team.

Worlds apart

The work has been carried out following a concept developed by London consultancy Household, which worked closely with Dixons on the creation of its Black concept store in Birmingham, which opened at the end of 2010. That was then, however, and while there are elements that those who visited that store may recognise in Harrods, this is actually a world away from high street electronics.

For most, the approach to the department will be made via the Egyptian escalator – that perennially startling confection that appears to have dark gold pharaohs and suchlike that you feel you ought to recognise, but don’t.

Emerging from this through an arch that leads to the new department, all is white, or so it appears, owing to the contrast with what has gone before.

White interiors are pretty much the default position for many technology retailers, but while a clean, clinical look is almost universally adopted, the use of mannequins and white marble is not, as cost is always an issue. But this is Harrods and expectations are different.

The white marble is in fact Italian and is arranged in a herringbone pattern to form a walkway that takes you round the department. The mannequins are dotted around the floor in modishly short dresses with one sporting a red shift with matching headphones while another dangles a pink Roberts radio from her arm in lieu of a, presumably, designer handbag.  

This is a continuation of a trend that was first seen in the Dixons Black store. It was interesting then, although the mannequins were later excised from that store’s blueprint, but in Harrods the sense is unsurprisingly more upscale.

Looking around for a moment, this is a large room and in the normal run of things it might be hard to stifle a mild yawn as you glanced across a floor filled with small, but almost perfectly formed, pieces of high-tech desirability. This does not happen, however.

In part this is because of the subdued, but luxurious, nature of the interior execution. Look towards any of the perimeter walls and as well as white, there is a vague amber hue. This is in fact the “amber arch”, as Bossom refers to it, a device used around the perimeter modules to frame the merchandise on display. It would have been easy to make this bright orange, step back and say ‘job done’ – a nice bright, technology retailing environment.

The use of amber is more subtle and puts the shopper at ease while providing something that will direct the gaze appropriately. And if you do walk up to the perimeter, it may be white, but it is crenellated, helping to reduced noise and meaning that this remains a relatively restful interior.

The same white walls are used for a soundproofed, glass-walled box, where high-end audio systems can be test driven from the comfort of a sofa. To the uninformed onlooker this is not a glass box next to the cash desk as the doors slide away to leave an open space in a corner of the floor. When required, these are put in place and unlike many of this kind, this really is a sound-proofed structure.

“We found that walking into a glass box is off-putting for shoppers,” says Bossom, explaining the reason for the way in which this has been done.

Standout store

There are two other elements that mark this out as far removed from a normal technology store. The first of these is the mid-floor equipment. The stock is displayed on play-tables of the kind that Dixons has been rolling out post the Black store in Brum. But the palette of materials is altogether more design-led and even features metal piping along the edges of each unit, preventing damage and adding another small touch to something that has been established at a more basic level in other locations.

The other noteworthy feature is the Apple shop-in-shop, which differs from others insofar as it has a circular display table. This may not sound much, but given that this is a brand that so tenaciously controls its retail image, a departure of this kind is surprising.

Finally, there is a second room, filled with branded technology installations that is accessed via white walled corridor washed in blue light. The passage has flatscreen TVs attached to its two walls, one of which shows films in 3D without the use of goggles – yours for just shy of £6,000.

All of which means that Harrods has a technology department that is not just big, but which does not conform to technology retail norms. Or rather, it does, but it plays with what the shopper might expect of a retailer operating in this arena. Like all things in Harrods, it is perfectly possible to leave this floor having perused items that cost very much more than the average house in the UK, but there are also plenty of items that are within reach.

Expectations in a store of this kind are inevitably high, but working with Dixons, Harrods has come up with a space that should make the list when technology shopping – if only to see what might be.

Store facts

Location Third floor, Harrods, Knightsbridge

Size 22,000 sq ft

Amount of SKUs unique to Harrods compared with a Dixons store +30%

Opened March 16

Technology partner Dixons

Design concept  Household

Shopfitting New Store Europe