General Information

A world-famous department store. It was established by Henry Edward Harrod in 1824, and has since gained international renown. While its motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique – All Things for All People, Everywhere, the store is decidedly upmarket and even has a dress code. The building houses memorials dedicated to of Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed.

Additional Information

The store occupies a 5-acre (20,000-square-metre) site and has over 90,000 square metres of selling space in over 330 departments, making it the biggest department store in Europe.

The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air Harrods, and to Harrods Buenos Aires, sold by Harrods in 1922 and closed as of 2011, with plans announced to reopen in 2013.

Interesting Facts

On Wednesday, 16 November 1898, Harrods debuted England’s first “moving staircase” (escalator) in their Brompton Road stores; the device was actually a woven leather conveyor belt-like unit with a mahogany and “silver plate-glass” balustrade. Nervous customers were offered brandy at the top to revive them after their “ordeal”.