They don’t sell fridges at Selfridges anymore, rather in the mould of its founder Harry Gordon Selfridge, it is an exercise brand fantasy.
You want a Dear Charlie chrome banana holder from Alessi for £100? Or some Zwilling J.A. Henckels knives? Or maybe you prefer the Claude Dozorme? An Addison Ross Twister salt cellar for £58? Or maybe the Fornasetti Leoppardato skin porcelain tea cups six for £1,190? Or a double brand whammy of a Smeg Dolce & Gabbana toaster £600?
The kitchen department is a bit of an afterthought these days tucked into the basement corner and well out of the way – the online choice is much better. Mostly Zilling and associates and predictably Le Creuset. The energy is all to the ready prepared and to the restaurant. It is Alto by San Carlo, It is Prunier for caviar. It is Aubaine “delectable dishes in a beautiful Instagram-worthy environment”. It is the Brasserie of Light – see picture. It is handmade noodles (very good) at Din Tai Fung whose Hong Kong branch has a Michelin star.
Harry Gordon would surely approve. He was quite the lad. After his wife died in the influenza epidemic he had a string of well known girlfriends including the Dolly sisters, probably both of them. Jenny was a succesful gambler. They were the million dollar babes whom he entertained on his yacht and his house off Berkely Square. He lived it up like he wanted his customers to do. And he is credited with coining the phrase the “customer is always right”.
As a boy, he sold newspapers to help the family finances and then made his fortune in retail in Chicago before marrying the property heiress Rosalie Buckingham. Bored with his retirement and on holiday in London he saw an opportunity and snapped up the site for £400k. He commissioned Daniel Birnham to build him a shop. His first store opened in 1909.
He was a showman. He refused to prosecute suffragettes for breaking his windows and opened one of the first restaurants where women could dine without a chaperone.
The iconic yellow bags came in 1993. The wonder room jewellery department was opened by Stevie Wonder himself. The Weston family sold it up in 2022 to a Thai/Austrian conglomerate for £4billion.
400 Oxford Street, W1
The online shop for kitchen ware is much superior
