"there is only one Mecca"

Harrods is an upmarket – waaaaay “upmarket” department store in the Knightsbridge section of London, in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 

And well, being how we were in the neighbourhood – sort of – She felt “compelled” to just drop by, spend a couple of £££££ and gander, it having been quite sometime since her last foray into the land of "ahhhs".

And so we did

Now then, Harrods is one whale of a store, pretty much over one million square feet of selling space in over 330 departments making it (one of if not) the biggest department store in Europe - and pretty much the world in fact - located on like acres, and I mean acres (roughly around five or so) of seriously “prime" London real estate

It’s like Hamblett’s (the largest toy store I have ever seen, also in London by the way) in that once you’ve been there, you KNOW you’ve been there! 

I mean, Harrods is so ‘cool’ they even have their own motto: Omnia Omnibus Ubique—All Things for All People, Everywhere. 

- yeah, pretentious as heck and in some minds deserved -

Harrods was established, at the tender age of 25, by Charles Henry Harrod in 1824. Located south of the River Thames in Southwark, on the Borough high street, Charles Harrod ran this business, variously listed as a draper, mercer and a haberdasher, until 1831. 

In 1834 Harrod established a wholesale grocery, with a special interest in tea, this he located in London’s east end
 
In 1849, Harrod took over a small shop in Brompton, the site of the current store. Beginning in a single room employing two assistants and a messenger boy, his son Charles, Harrod built the business into a thriving retail operation selling medicines, perfumes, stationery, along with fruits and vegetables. 

Rapidly expanding, Harrod acquired the adjoining buildings, growing, as well, his staff over the years, he employed one hundred people by 1880.

The store's booming fortunes, however, were reversed in December 1883, when it burnt to the ground. Remarkably, in spite of this misfortune, Charles Harrod fulfilled all of his Christmas commitments, missing not a one of his deliveries that year; and in fact making a record profit in the process.
 
In short order, after the disaster, a new building was built on the same site, shortly thereafter Harrods - for the first time - extended credit to its best customers, among them a who’s-who of British society, from Oscar Wilde, Vivien Leigh, Noel Coward and A.A. Milne to members of the British Royal family.

Harrods, in 1898 by the way, showcased in their Brompton Road store, England's first escalator - actually a woven leather conveyor belt-like thingee – to ease their nerves, once arriving at their floor of convenience, customers were served a bit of brandy.
 
Ah yes, the good old days of civility. 

However, "Time Marches On", Harrod’s - in a time of questionable decisions - was purchased by the Fayed brothers in 1985, the ensuing years - under their stewardship - have been interesting to say the least (up to and including the "dress-code" for customers) 

Harrods was - once again - sold to a group representing the State of Qatar's Royal Family in May 2010. In originally denying the sale, Mohamed Al-Fayed remarked “this is not Marks and Spencer or Sainbury’s. It is a special place that gives people pleasure. There is only one Mecca”

And with that grandiose statement, normally I would just say “yep” and move to a conclusion, except during this trip down memory lane I also came across this nugget:

Mohamed Al-Fayed, in interviews granted after the sale, gave several varying reasons for the sale including the rather dubious difficulty in getting his dividends approved by the trustee of the Harrods pension fund.
 
"I'm here every day, and I can't take my profit because I have to get permission of those bloody idiots, I say is this right? Is this logic? Somebody like me? I run a business and I need to obtain the trustee's permission to take my profit."  

- uh, yeah -

- In the end, Harrods was sold for £1.5 billion; with roughly half of the sale being used to pay off bank debts of £625 million - the rest as they say, is history: for now

One of the enduring treasures of Harrods (not withstanding the myriad of actual treasures for sale - and damn there are plenty of those - I'm just saying) is both the food courts and the restaurants, absolute delights the lot of 'em!

Expensive - to some - but in my eyes worth it. She and I "savoured" lunch in the "Georgian" and yeah, worth every shilling! - still - 

(EDITORIAL UPDATE: Ooops!!! the aforementioned "toy store" is not named Hamblett's - funny that - but actually it's Hamleys (Hamleys of London) and can be found, in case you're looking, on Regent Street)