Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr. was an American retail magnate who founded the London-based department store Selfridges. The early years of his leadership of Selfridges led to his becoming one of the most respected and wealthy retail magnates in the United Kingdom. He was known as the 'Earl of Oxford Street'.
Harry Gordon Selfridge circa 1910
Selfridge in around 1880
Original Oxford Street store in London
Rose Selfridge, circa 1910
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appearance in the middle of the 19th century, and permanently reshaped shopping habits, and the definition of service and luxury. Similar developments were under way in London, in Paris and in New York City (Stewart's).
Interior of Le Bon Marché in Paris
Sokos department store building in Multimäki, Kuopio, Finland
Harrods illuminated exterior at night in Knightsbridge, London
Au Bon Marché