HARRODS
A little history
Charles Henry Harrod started a grocery shop in 1849. The store had a lot
of success, because of the Great Exhibition: a world fair in 1851, which
attracted a lot of visitors. The products had a high quality and the store had
great service.
In 1894, Richard Burbridge became the new owner of the store and
expanded it. He also built the world’s first escalator.
During World War II, the store changed its luxury goods to uniforms,
parachutes and parts for Lancaster bombers.
Then in 1985, the Egypt-born Mohamed Al-Fayed bought the store.
Extraordinarily, Harrods supplies products to the queen of England, the
duke of Edinburgh and the prince of Wales.
What does the building look like?
Harrods is a high class department store with 330 floors. It’s the
biggest department store in Europe. It has over 12000 employees!
The store sells a lot of luxury products, like designer clothing,
electronics, luxury jewellery, bridal trousseau, toys, beauty items, designer
bags, stationary, furniture and much more.
There’s even a restaurant which sells a very expensive fish species. The
15th of October 2009, Harrods Bank started selling gold bars.
On an average day over 100.000 people come to shop at Harrods. On peak
days, especially during the Christmas season, this number can jump up to
300.000
At night, Harrods is lit up by 12000 light bulbs on the store’s façade
and 300 bulbs have to be changed every day. This began with its Christmas
lights in 1959 when 1100 bulbs were used for decorations.
Motto
Harrods has a motto. This motto is: “Omnia Omnibus Ubique”, which is
Latin for “all things for all people, everywhere.” The motto reflects the
store’s goal to provide everything a shopper could want.
People can see this motto on the façade of the building.
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