London: The Stunning Selfridge Experience
For many years, I have complained that Calgary merchants (especially those in the downtown and along main streets in Kensington, Inglewood and 17th Ave SW) don’t decorate their windows for Christmas or if they do, the efforts are pretty lame. Each year, jealousy would strike when I saw amazing photos posted on the internet of decorated stores in London, Paris, New York and Chicago.
Call me old fashioned, but I love Christmas windows!
So when a YYC Deals email arrived in my Inbox in early October about cheap flights to London, England at Christmas time, I jumped at the opportunity to check out their Christmas windows for myself. I was especially keen to see Selfridges windows after binge watching “Mr. Selfridge” on Netflix early in 2019.
Selfridges – with its street windows, contemporary art program, gallery-like displays, high tech gadgets and roof-top restaurant – didn’t disappoint. We spent 5 hours flaneuring the building inside and out.
Link: Selfridges History
The iconic Selfridge bag becomes an art object in the Selfridge Museum.
Selfridge Holiday Windows are anything but traditional.
The Selfridge Store.
The Windows Experience
The windows at Selfridges were not what I expected. There were no animated toy trains, twirling elves, dolls or snowmen. And no spectacular Santa’s Village either. Turns out this year’s theme was “Future Fantasy,” a modern interpretation of beloved festive stories through a modern lens says Bobbie Tree, Selfridges Design Manager.
To me, each of the windows was more like a cerebral contemporary gallery installation, making for a “slow read” rather than an immediate visual WOW! I am not sure they would have much appeal to children, but they were imaginative, striking and fit with Selfridges’ vision of linking past and present.
Guess I must change with the times.
Each of the 27 windows are framed like this one greenery and twinkle lights.
Backstory
Selfridges' 27 Oxford Street windows have become synonymous with the brand since it opened in 1909. For over 100 years, the windows consistently attract tourists, designers and fashionistas alike to marvel at the current designs and styling and fashion trends.
Selfridges has a history of bold art initiatives when it comes to its window designs. When the building first opened, owner Harry Selfridge initiated a "signature" window which was signed by all of the stars and famous people who came to shop at the store. Cracked in the first bombing during the blitz (1940/41), the window was never replaced.
Today, its visualizing merchandising team calculate that 20% of business-winning trade is from the windows. When Alannah Weston became Creative Director after her family’s business purchased Selfridges by in 2003, she approached artist Alison Jackson to put her trademark Tony Blair and David Beckham lookalikes in the windows. The result: they brought traffic to a standstill, with the police finally insisting they stop the project because it was clogging up Oxford Street. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Inside Experience
Our first impression of the store’s interior (albeit through a side door) was of the new lower level cinema with its plush red furniture that immediately recalled something from the early 20th century. We were told this space had been used for years as storage and only opened a few weeks before we arrived.
As we then flaneured Selfridges’ six floors, it was apparent this was no ordinary department store. The selection of fashions, beauty products, watches, jewellery, home and technology products was mind boggling. It even sold robots – Selfridges has a standalone technology store where you can buy the latest gadgets.
The place was immaculate and friendly staff were everywhere. No looking around to see if someone can help you! While wandering the women’s fragrance area taking close-up photos of the elegant perfume bottles, staff were more than happy to let me get as close as I wanted. There was a style and elegance without pretention. I was told I could take as many photos as I wanted.
Selfridges contemporary Christmas Tree is a six-storey reflective sculpture installed next to the escalators.
This guys was taking a rest while we were there.
I was told you had to order a drink to see this guy in action.
There is an FAO Schwarz store in Selfridges.
Rooftop Experience
One of the staff suggested we should definitely check out the rooftop restaurant, even if to just have a look. After some searching for the one-and-only express lift (aka elevator) that takes you directly the rooftop, we discovered a small museum highlighting Selfridges’ history. I couldn’t help but wonder why Calgary’s downtown Hudson’s Bay doesn’t have a museum sharing its extensive history with visitors.
The Italian-themed restaurant, complete with a retractable roof, was impressive. Given it was early December, we lucked out as it was a quite mild and sunny by noon hour. And as luck would have it, there was a table available partly outside / partly under the roof, offering us a great view of the city and the restaurant comings and goings. Add in a tasty charcuterie platter, some beer and wine and it doesn’t get much better (even if we did have to keep our jackets on)!
Entrance to rooftop restaurant.
You are never very far from a drink at Selfridges.
Art Gallery Experience
Wandering Selfridges is a bit like wandering in a hip, contemporary art gallery with each boutique being a different gallery. Everything in the store is curated and displayed with gallery-like precision, capturing your eye and inviting you to stop, look, admire and yes, buy something. Indeed people were buying, as evidenced by the plethora of Selfridges’ signature bright yellow shopping bags (you can’t miss them) being paraded around the store. The theme of the “exhibition” would be “Pursuit of Beauty,” as everything is not only beautifully displayed, but has an element of beauty itself.
Selfridges has a long history of incorporating art into the Selfridge experience. For example, its “State of the Arts” program works with some of UK’s leading galleries and critically acclaimed artists to create a gallery in its major Oxford Street window. The huge corner window at Oxford and Duke Street, called “Art Tank” is where you can often see artists working in the window creating their avant garde installations.
While inside the store, is the “The Art Block” a huge plinth at the Duke Street entrance where every six months Helen Pheby, Head of Curatorial Programme at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, curates a new piece.
Wander up to the 3rd floor to find “The Body Studio Courtyard,” a huge commissioned installation “Stems” by Rebecca Ackroyd resembles a 3D version of a Salvador Dali painting. The space and the artwork are so cleverly integrated with the roof-top ventilation and heating elements of the building, you can easily miss it.
High above the entrance to Selfridges’ Oxford Street grand entrance stands an 11-foot high statue of the Queen of Time, standing on the prow of the Ship of Commerce and attended by nymphs. Above her are the twin dials of the clock, with a small ship atop. Designed by Gilbert Bayes, who was very popular at the time and part of the New Sculpture movement, it was unveiled in 1931.
Link: Selfridges Guide to Art
Link: Home is where the art is
The bookstore has a great selection of art books.
Even the display racks are sculptural.
Daniel Arsham “The House” installation includes a porche 922 in the window at Selfridges. Link: Arsham Installation
Arsham’s installation “The House” includes many common household items like this computer.
Last Word
Overall, I was impressed at how Selfridges continues to be a leader in identifying and integrating new retail concepts, without losing all of its historical department store charm. And did you know it has a Canadian connection? I had forgotten until researching for this blog that Selfridges is owned by a Canadian, Galen Weston who purchased the store in 2003.
Ironically, Weston failed to acquire Canada’s Hudson's Bay Company and its chain of department stores in 1979, but did acquire Holt Renfrew in 1986. Holt Renfrew subsequently underwent an extensive renovation program including the relocation of the Calgary’s Holt Renfrew to the modern Eaton’s store building that was vacated by SEARS in 2008. It now anchors the west end of The Core shopping centre.
FYI: In 1988, when Calgary’s original Eaton’s store was demolished to accommodate the construction of the $110M Eaton Centre (part of The Core shopping complex today) the Tyndall stone façade of the 1929 store was preserved and integrated into the new retail building. A dusty display window along 8th Avenue still holds some photos of the old Eaton’s building.
One cannot help but wonder how Calgary’s downtown Hudson’s Bay store (as well as those across Canada) might look today if Weston had been successful in purchasing it in 1979. And how that might have impacted the evolution of not only Calgary’s Stephen Avenue over the past 40 years, but the downtown main streets of many of Canadian cities.
If you like this blog, you will like these links:
Calgary: Unique Shopping Experiences
Berlin: Humana Thrift Store Gone Wild?