Selfridges

Had to go to London for work this week. Usually I try to avoid staying overnight if I can but I needed a couple of nights in a hotel this time.

There are lots of nightmare hotels in London (and lots of gorgeous luxury ones which don't come within our expenses budget!) so I usually stay in one I know well which is just off Oxford Street.

Part of the fun of staying here is that I get to walk up & down Oxford Street between my hotel and Bond Street tube station - but it was just a bit too packed this week for my liking, it felt like the whole world was there. I'm thinking of starting a petition for a pedestrian one-way system, it's chaos!

This is the amazing centrepiece of the Selfridges storefront - I thought the building was older, but apparently it was opened in 1909.

From the unscientific research done on my trips up & down Oxford Street, I can inform you that the 2 stores doing the best in terms of sales have to be Primark and Selfridges which seems an odd mix, luxury and cheap & cheerful - every other shopper seemed to be carrying their bags - bright yellow for Selfridges and brown paper bags for Primark.