Harrods was established in 1834 in London’s East End, when founder Charles Henry Harrod set up a wholesale grocery in Stepney, with a special interest in tea. In 1849, to escape the vice of the inner city and to capitalise on trade to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in nearby Hyde Park, Harrod took over a small shop in the district of Knightsbridge, on the site of the current store. Beginning in a single room employing two assistants and a messenger boy, Harrod’s son Charles Digby Harrod built the business into a thriving retail operation selling medicines, perfumes, stationery, fruit, and vegetables. Harrods rapidly expanded, acquired the adjoining buildings, and employed one hundred people by 1880.
When the visionary businessman, Mohamed Al Fayed, purchased Harrods in 1985, its place as the world’s premier department store was already firmly established - but he realised that much still needed to be done in order to prepare it for the decades ahead. He instigated a massive £400 million refurbishment project in order to return the ‘Palace in Knightsbridge’ to its former glory. Every corner of the building received Mr Al Fayed’s attention and, as well as refurbishing the fabric of the building – including the exquisite Edwardian terracotta façade – enchanting new rooms and facilities were added.
To be continued... on
http://www.harrods.com