Description
Probably London's most famous store.
A few facts:
Anything is possible
The Owner
Mohamed Al Fayed bought Harrods in March 1985.
The Founder
Charles Henry Harrod in 1849. Harrods is the only major Department Store to have started as a grocer.
The Site
The main store occupies approximately 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares) with over 25 acres (10.5 hectares) of selling space extending over seven floors and 6 acres (2 hectares) of stockrooms, offices and back-up services.
All water is drawn from the store’s 3 wells, the deepest of which is 489 ft. Annual water consumption is approximately 27,161,000 gallons.
70% of our electricity is generated by the store’s engine rooms.
There are 40 lifts in the store covering 39,800 miles per year.
There are 250 incoming telephone lines and 3,800 internal extensions. The switchboard receives approximately 7,000 calls every day.
300 light bulbs are changed each day in the store by Harrods’ Electrical Engineers.
The Façade
The exterior of the store is lit by 11,500 light bulbs. There are 75 display windows. The famous terracotta was supplied by Doultons, who also provided the tiling for the Meat Hall.
The Staff
5,000 rising to 5,500 at Sale and Christmas time. The store has its own Fire Brigade, Health Care and Magazine.
Over 12,000 prospective employees are interviewed per year from over 25,000 job enquiries.
Harrods employs 6 "Green Men", the famous commissioners synonymous with Harrods since 1909.
The Figures
Daily takings in the region of £1m.
More than £30m was taken over the first 4 days of the 2001 January Sale with over £15m passing through the tills on the first Saturday. These figures bettered previous records set in past Sales.
The Departments
The Food Hall is 18 departments in total. The Cheese Department offers 250 different types of cheese, the Bakery Department sells 130 different types of bread and scones, and the Confectionery Department sells in excess of 100 tons of chocolate per year.
The Services
Service Departments include a Bank, Dry Cleaner, Estate Agent, Export Bureau, Car Park, Safe Deposit, Travel Agent, Interior Design Service, Ladies’, Gentlemen’s and Children’s Hairdressing, Bridal Registry, Ticket Bureau, Personal Shopping and a Watch Repair Service.
Distribution
A £30m Distribution centre at Osterley, Middlesex uses state of the art technology to house over 20,000 units of merchandise awaiting delivery to the store or to the customer. The Crown Court distribution centre which opened in 2003 at the back of the store has warehousing on seven underground story’s and because of which, was described as "the most complex building project in Europe” when being constructed.
A fleet of about 40 delivery vehicles can make up to 1,000 deliveries every week. Harrods owns original vintage electric vans: a Walker van built in 1915 and a van built in Harrods own workshops in the late 1930s. The originals are still in running order.
International
Harrods "tax-free" shops at Heathrow Airport – Terminals 1,2,3 and 4, both terminals at Gatwick as well as Frankfurt, Lisbon, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur airports
28 Food Halls and "signature" shops in Mitsukoshi department store in Japan. Harrods shop-in-shop concepts in conjunction with Mitsubishi Corporation in other Japanese department stores. Also one in Seoul, S Korea (Lotte dept store), one in Singapore - Takashimaya dept store and shops on board QE2, and QM2 cruise ships.