Harrods - Worth the Time?
April 27th 2008 01:22
Is London's most famous department store worth visiting?
I don't even know why I knew Harrod's existed before arriving in London for the first time. I'm not a shopper and I wasn't in the market for anything. Yet it seemed Harrod's was on the agenda of "must-see" places.
Why Is Harrods Famous?
1. It's old - 1834.
2. It's big - over 330 departments, over a million square feet, one of the largest department stores in the world.
3. It's got a reputation for luxury goods.
4. It used to take pride in getting anything the customer wanted, no matter how exotic or outrageous.
What's the Royal Connection with Harrods?
It's a bit of an on-again, off-again thing.
Harrods in the past has held royal warrants, meaning they are one of the places the Royal Family shop.
As the current warrants expire, some speculate they may not be renewed.
When Princess Diana died in the famous Paris car accident, Dodi Al-Fayed was also killed. He and Diana were romantically linked at the time. Since the accident, Dodi's bereaved father, an owner of Harrods, has been convinced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have information about the death that they have not disclosed. The range and nature of Mr. Al-Fayed's various suppositions are more than I want to go into here, suffice it to say there has been a parting of ways.
What's to See at Harrods?
Often, and especially at Christmas, CROWDS. If you do go, try and pick a quiet time in mid-week, maybe in October or February. The Christmas shopping is really too crowded to be at all bearable.
You will see lots of high-end merchandise. The pet department is particularly entertaining - lots of bling for little pooches.
The famous Food Halls are one thing I would go back to. Colourfully wearing old-fashioned tiles, the kind barely remembered from childhood, the rooms of exotic and common delicacies do feel special and apart from the mainstream merchandising in the rest of the store. You can pick up a single meat pie or sausage roll and carry it out into Knightsbridge with you for a little picnic outside.
London A to Z Map Reference: 7E 146
Tube: Knightsbridge
Address: 87 through 135 Brompton Road
Harrods, by Mikegr, GNU Free Documentation License. Thanks Mikegr for sharing this image.
I don't even know why I knew Harrod's existed before arriving in London for the first time. I'm not a shopper and I wasn't in the market for anything. Yet it seemed Harrod's was on the agenda of "must-see" places.
Why Is Harrods Famous?
1. It's old - 1834.
2. It's big - over 330 departments, over a million square feet, one of the largest department stores in the world.
3. It's got a reputation for luxury goods.
4. It used to take pride in getting anything the customer wanted, no matter how exotic or outrageous.
What's the Royal Connection with Harrods?
It's a bit of an on-again, off-again thing.
Harrods in the past has held royal warrants, meaning they are one of the places the Royal Family shop.
As the current warrants expire, some speculate they may not be renewed.
When Princess Diana died in the famous Paris car accident, Dodi Al-Fayed was also killed. He and Diana were romantically linked at the time. Since the accident, Dodi's bereaved father, an owner of Harrods, has been convinced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip have information about the death that they have not disclosed. The range and nature of Mr. Al-Fayed's various suppositions are more than I want to go into here, suffice it to say there has been a parting of ways.
What's to See at Harrods?
Often, and especially at Christmas, CROWDS. If you do go, try and pick a quiet time in mid-week, maybe in October or February. The Christmas shopping is really too crowded to be at all bearable.
You will see lots of high-end merchandise. The pet department is particularly entertaining - lots of bling for little pooches.
The famous Food Halls are one thing I would go back to. Colourfully wearing old-fashioned tiles, the kind barely remembered from childhood, the rooms of exotic and common delicacies do feel special and apart from the mainstream merchandising in the rest of the store. You can pick up a single meat pie or sausage roll and carry it out into Knightsbridge with you for a little picnic outside.
London A to Z Map Reference: 7E 146
Tube: Knightsbridge
Address: 87 through 135 Brompton Road
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