Page 20 - All About History - Issue 33-15

Trade

Roof terrace
From the 1920s, the roof hosted terraced
gardens, cafes, a mini golf course and an
all-girl gun club. With its spectacular views
across London, it became a popular place
for relaxing after a shopping trip.

EARLY Pianoforte department

DEPARTMENTSTORE

TRANSFORMING SHOPPING FROM NECESSITY

TO LEISURE ACTIVITY, EARLY-20TH CENTURY

Umbrella department
The Industrial Revolution saw factories,
coal mines and shipyards spring up across
the countryside and coast, but this era also
ushered in the dawn of a very different
kind of establishment: the department
store. With the booming economy came a
new consumer society and the rise of the
middle class, with disposable incomes and
plenty of leisure time. The department store Costume department
provided an easy way for affluent women to
shop safely and decorously away from the Shop assistants
company of men. These employees were taught to be on hand
to assist customers, but never pushy. The
The first was Harding Howell & Co’s
shifts were long and gruelling. During busy
Grand Fashionable Magazine in Pall Mall, periods, employees were expected to be on
London, which opened in 1796. It was the shop floor between 8am and 10pm when
divided into four departments: furs and the shop closed, and would then have to stay
to restock. One described it as ‘the lowest
fans, haberdashery, jewellery and clocks,
form of animal life’.
and millinery (hats). By the end of the
19th century, all major British cities had
flourishing department stores, including
Kendals (now House of Fraser) in Manchester
and Bainbridge’s (now owned by John Lewis)
in Newcastle. Harrods opened in 1834 and
became the world’s most famous luxury
department store. However, it was another
store that changed the way we shop forever.
Selfridges on Oxford Street opened
its doors in 1909. Founded by American
entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge, his aim
was to transform shopping from a chore into
a source of pleasure and entertainment. It
offered 100 departments in which ‘everyone
was welcome’, and his innovative marketing
campaigns were mimicked the world over.
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