Harrods, Luxury department store in Knightsbridge, England
Description
Harrods is a department store in Knightsbridge within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, covering roughly two hectares (five acres) of retail space with more than 330 departments across several floors offering everything from designer clothing and cosmetics to home furnishings and gourmet foods. The exterior facade of terracotta brick is illuminated by thousands of small bulbs at night, and the interior displays ornamental ceilings, wide staircases, and themed halls that each present their own category of merchandise.
History
Charles Henry Harrod founded the business in 1834 as a grocery in Stepney before moving it to the current Knightsbridge site in 1849, where it gradually evolved into a general department store. A major fire in 1883 destroyed the original building, leading to the construction of the present brick structure, which was then expanded in several phases through the early 20th century.
Culture
The food halls draw shoppers from across the globe who wander past displays of fresh pastries, artisan cheeses, and exotic spices while kitchen staff prepare samples at the counters. The clientele comes both to shop and to watch: many people simply walk through the aisles to experience the theatrical presentation of merchandise and observe the crowd on any given afternoon.
Practical
Knightsbridge Underground Station sits right next door and makes arrival straightforward, while the store itself opens most days from morning through evening with shorter hours on Sunday. Crowds fill the floors and queue for elevators on weekends and holidays, so visiting on a weekday typically means less congestion.
Did you know?
The building installed the first escalator in England in 1898, with staff standing by at the top to offer brandy to customers unsettled by the new mechanical ascent. Above the entrances, roughly 12,000 individual bulbs hang each night to trace the outline of the facade and switch on simultaneously as dusk falls.
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