Where is the Best Department Store in the World?
Selfridges' flagship store on Oxford Street
The ballots have been counted and the vote is in for the best department store in the world.
You might have thought it was Harrods, which is a good guess. But the honors have been awarded to Selfridges, that 103-year-old English institution founded by American Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1909. At the time, it was recognized as the best example of a modern department store. Looks like things haven't change.
The award was handed down by The Interncontinental Group of Department Stores at the Global Department Store Summit in Paris. Other finalists included our very own Macy's as well as Woolworths in South Africa.
Selfridges' flagship store on Oxford Street is the second largest department store, after Harrods, in the United Kingdom. It has been on the cutting edge of retailing for years. In 1925,the store had the first public demonstration of television by John Baird. In the 1920s and 1930s, the roof of the store hosted terraced gardens, cafes, a mini golf course and an all-girl gun club.
Selfridges has three other stores in England, all three equally astute in retailing.
