THINK (^) | HISTORY
returned from school.” It offered escapism too.
“For the 1930s woman beset by anxieties
including increasingly restricted finances and
changing social status, department stores
offered a form of entertainment akin to dancing
or going to the movies,” says Collenette. The 1936
novel The New House by Lettice Cooper captures
t he t h r ill of shopping in such a depa r t ment store,
where “the small doings of your everyday life,
smoking a cigarette or powdering your face,
were surrounded with luxury and grace.”
WHAT FUTURE IS IN STORE?
New stores captured the modern spirit: Peter
Jones (now Joh n Lew is) in London’s Sloa ne
Square, built in the first half of the 1930s, is a
good exa mple. They cont inued to adapt
post-war, too, to cater to the increased spending
power of the working class, and department
stores’ share of retail sales probably peaked in
the 1950s, at about 15% of total sales. Debenhams
introduced self-service to replace the possibly
intimidating counters. And, come the
youthquake of the 60s, they attempted to lure
younger consumers: Bentall’s of Kingston
innovated in introducing departments selling
Store troopers
Department stores that are
still doing it well
Liberty, London Established as
an Arts and Crafts alternative to
the rest of London’s department
stores: we still love getting lost
in their haberdashery.
Le Bon Marché, Paris Classic
architecture designed by the
firm of Gustave Eiffel (of tower
fame), now part of the luxury
group that owns Louis Vuitton,
Dior and more.
Dover Street Market The
department store gets a
conceptual makeover, with
designers and artists invited to
create their own installations.
Stores in London, New York,
Tokyo, Singapore and Beijing.
Shinsegae, South Korea The
largest department store in
the world, in Busan. Even has
its own ice rink.
Saks, New York Featuring an
amazing ‘wellness’ and beauty
store – a fantastic blend of
experience and products,
according to retail trends expert
Cate Trotter.
Isetan, Tokyo It started life as
a kimono shop, now one of the
trendiest stores in Japan (which
is a very trendy country).
(^1) Laughs in store in
1970s sitcomAre You
Being Served?
(^2) Shoppers at London’s
Derry & Tom’s admire
a replica of the Queen’s
wedding cake, 1947.
(^3) Models in the latest
wintersports clothing
at Harrods in 1934.
(^4) Retail splendour at
Selfridges, London.
(^5) A more futuristic
Selfridges, Birmingham
clothes for teens, while the first Miss Selfridge
shop wa s opened by Self r idges in 1966. In more
recent times, however, it has perhaps felt that
they’ve lost their magic and – given their role as
high-street hubs – their closures leave large
holes to fill. There are exceptions, however: like
the thoroughly contemporary Selfridges
building in Bir m ingha m, desig ned by renow ned
architects Future Systems and completed in
- The best department stores, according to
Cate Trot ter, head of t rends at f ut ure reta il
consultants Insider Trends (insider-trends.com),
are those who can blend on and off line
experiences. Nordstrom, in the States, for
example, had great success opening local stores,
2% the space of its main stores, where goods can
be ordered into and sampled before being taken
home, and offering services such as personal
shopping. “There’s no reason that there can’t be
one of t h is k ind of shop on ever y h igh st reet ,”
Trotter believes. Then the big stores can focus
instead on providing a “slow, rich experience
that makes them a real hub”. Places to go and
marvel, wonder, meet friends and be
entertained. And maybe pick up a nice new
frock while you’re at it.
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