The luxury shopping and dining mecca celebrates its 175th anniversary this year. So we’ve rounded up our favourite weird, wonderful and whimsical facts about this Knightsbridge institution…
Harrods 175th Anniversary: 17.5 Harrods Facts
01.
Harrods officially began its anniversary year this February with a month-long Burberry takeover that has seen the building’s famous facade and even the iconic doormen decked in the fashion house’s new signature shade, Knight Blue. Of course, this isn’t the first time the department store has collaborated with luxury fashion houses. Past partners include Gucci, Valentino, Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama and Dolce & Gabbana. But the most ambitious was The Fabulous World of Dior Christmas 2022 takeover, which saw Harrods kitted out like a giant gingerbread house and marked the first time a brand had taken over the entirety of the store’s windows.
02.
Going back to the beginning… Harrods started life as an East End grocer in 1834, opened by the industrious Charles Henry Harrod. In 1849 he relocated to the current site on Brompton Road, where it has grown into the luxury emporium we know and love today.
03.
Around 100,000 people visit Harrods every day, which ramps up to a staggering 300,000 people a day in the run-up to Christmas. It has around 15 million visitors a year – more than double that of the Eiffel Tower.
04.
Harrods really is a luxury behemoth. The 4.5-acre site includes a whopping 90,000 square metres of selling space, stocking 5,000 brands across eight floors, making it one of the largest department stores in the world – and the most popular.
05.
The shopping and dining stalwart employs 5,000 members of staff – increasing to 5,500 over Christmas – including the iconic Green Men, who cover the store’s various entrances and assist members of the public (as well as posing for selfies).
06.
The famous Egyptian escalator, installed by former owner, Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, may be one of the more eye-catching architectural eccentricities of Harrods, but did you know that the department store introduced the country’s first-ever escalator? Built in late 1898, the moving stairs were such a shock to Victorian visitors that, allegedly, Harrods staff would be waiting at the top of the escalator with smelling salts and a stiff brandy to calm them down.
07.
Harrods has its own motto: ‘Omnia omnibus ubique’, which translates from Latin to ‘Everything for everybody everywhere.
08.
You really can buy (pretty much) anything at Harrods. Among some of the priciest items on sale are superyachts, a Methuselah (six litres) of Louis XIII cognac costing £98,000 a pop, and an original Andy Warhol from Halcyon Gallery. In 2015, Harrods hosted a month-long, private-jet pop-up which was – believe it or not – run by Iron Maiden rocker and qualified pilot Bruce Dickinson. These days, you can still charter flights through Harrods Aviation.
09.
Harrods’ food offering is the stuff of legends, and the recently reopened Grade II-listed Dining Hall has added even more restaurants and culinary delights among its storied walls. Whether you’re in the mood for oysters and champagne, afternoon tea, handmade chocolates, personalised sourdough bread or gold-leaf croissants (yes, really), you will find these and more amid the iconic Food Hall, Dining Hall and 25 or so restaurants and bars.
10.
There’s nowhere quite like London during Christmas, and Harrods, with its dazzling, twinkling lights, is one of the highlights of the season. The famous festival of lights that illuminates the building’s facade is a festive tradition dating back to 1959 and is made up of around 12,000 bulbs – a rumoured 300 of which need to be replaced every day.
11.
Given its size and scale, Harrods can claim to be a city within a city. And, incredibly, the emporium even runs off its very own water supply. Deep within the store’s basement is a private water source, accessed via three boreholes that were originally installed in the the early 1900s. These reach 150 metres below Brompton Road and deliver up to 1,090 cubic metres of water a day.
12.
Another stranger-than-fiction fact is that Harrods used to sell exotic animals as part of the legendary Pet Kingdom. Noël Coward was gifted an alligator by his friend, the comedienne Beatrice Lillie, which Harrods had flown out to him in Bermuda. Similarly, a baby elephant named Gertie was purchased for Ronald Reagan while he was Governor of California in 1967.
13.
You can still take animals home from Harrods, but of a more cuddly and manageable variety. The famous Harrods teddy bear was introduced in the Christmas of 1986, with the original – Snowy – wearing a knitted hat and scarf. It has been a festive tradition of the store ever since. Each one has a different name and outfit, as well as the Harrods logo and year of release stitched on its left paw. Henry bear, dressed in dapper green tweed and a gold bow, has just been released to commemorate the 175th anniversary.
14.
Speaking of bears, did you know that Harrods is partly responsible for the creation of one of the world’s most famous bears? In 1921, writer A A Milne bought a teddy from Harrods for his son Christopher Robin’s first birthday. The childhood bond between bear and boy would inspire Milne’s beloved Winnie-the-Pooh stories and characters.
15.
A live cobra was once used to guard a pair of diamond-, ruby- and sapphire-encrusted shoes with a whopping £62,000 price tag.
16.
In 1917, rival department store owner Harry Selfridge made a bet with the Harrods’ managing director, Woodman Burbidge, that ‘within six years after declaration of peace we [Selfridges] would overtake and pass Harrods Ltd in annual returns’. The final peace treaties were signed in 1921 and, six years later, Burbidge reminded Mr Selfridge of the bet, which he had lost quite significantly. To show good sportsmanship, he commissioned a silver replica of Harrods, which used to be on display in the store’s lower ground floor.
17.
Harrods sells 100,000 pairs of shoes in the 4,000-square metre Shoe Heaven department. Someone phone Carrie Bradshaw…
17.5.
A little bonus fact for you – Harrods has released several special-edition beauty buys to mark its 175th anniversary, all available in exquisite commemorative packaging. Expect many more to appear throughout the year…
