Harrods of London - 'Omnia Omnibus Ubique'

Harrods Department Store located in London, UK was established by Charles Henry Harrod, originally in 1834 as a grocery and tea wholesale firm. In 1849, Harrod obtained a small shop in the district of Knightsbridge, which incidentally remains the site of the current store. Harrod’s son Charles, impressively built the business into a thriving operation selling medicines, perfumes, stationery, fruits, and veggies. Harrod's rapidly expanded and soon acquired nearby adjoining buildings, and employed one hundred people by 1880.* In a near tragic turn of events, a fire destroyed the store, in 1883. However, the Harrods managed to fill and deliver all of their customer orders by the Christmas season and effectively proved their worth as exceptional purveyors of fine goods to the British public. To date, the emporium continues to thrives as a mainstay of British elegance and class. Through out the years it has changed hands officially twice;first acquired by the House of Fraser in the late 1940s and later by Egyptian Industrialists, Mohammed and Ali Al Fayed in the 1980's.

Harrod's Department Store is impressively immense to say the least with its over 300 departments impeccably situated over a span of seven floors. The expansive emporium sells all the items one would expect to find in an upscale department store from clothing, to jewelry, china, toys, and wedding fare. Additionally, the store has a pet shop with a wide range of domestic and moderately exotic animals for sale. Among the most celebrated departments is that of the aptly named 'Food Hall'. Available here is a virtually endless array of the most gracious of delicacies including fine rare cheeses, charcutarie, chocolates, Ewe, and pastries galore. Of course the finest in luxury gourmet items are offered with a price tag to match. Within the alimentary shoppe, one can also find a number of regular grocery items that cost no more than the Safeway supermarket down the road. For travelers to London, this historic British institution is a definite 'must see'.

Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7XL. Tel: 020 7730 1234. www.harrods.com. Knightsbridge Tube. Open Mon-Sat 10am-8pm; Sun 12 noon-6pm

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