Multimedia presentation: The Big Stores in the United States and Great Britain

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Department Stores in Great Britain Harrods

Opening hours

10am-8pm Mon-Sat, 11.30am-6pm Sun

Both garish and stylish at the same time, perennially crowded Harrods is an obligatory stop for London’s tourists, from the cash strapped to the big, big spenders. The stock is astonishing and you’ll swoon over the spectacular food hall.

High on kitsch, the ‘Egyptian Elevator’ with its ex-owner Mohammed Al Fayed's sphinxes, resembles something hauled in from an Indiana Jones epic, while the memorial fountain to Dodi and Di merely adds surrealism. Piped opera will be thrown at you as you recoil from the price tags: after an hour of browsing, you may just want to lie down on one of the doubles in the 2nd-floor bedroom department. Serious shoppers can download the handy Harrods app.

Bennetts

 Opening hours

9am-5pm Mon-Sat

 

Founded as ironmongers in 1734 and still retaining ironmongery, Derby's historic department store has evolved over the centuries to sell beautiful clothes, home wares, gifts and more. There's a tearoom and cafe, and, on the 1st-floor interior balcony, the excellent Michael Frith at Bennett’s Brasserie, specializing in three-course champagne breakfasts (served until 2pm).

Selfridges

Opening hours

9.30am-9pm Mon-Sat, 11.30am-6.15pm Sun

Selfridges loves innovation – it’s famed for its inventive window displays by international artists, gala shows and, above all, its amazing range of products. It’s the trendiest of London’s one-stop shops, with labels such as Boudicca, Luella Bartley, Emma Cook, Chloé and Missoni; an unparalleled food hall; and Europe’s largest cosmetics department.

Fortnum & Mason

Opening hours

10am-9pm Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun

London’s oldest grocery store, now into its fourth century, refuses to yield to modern times. Its staff are still dressed in old-fashioned tailcoats and it keeps its glamorous food hall supplied with hampers, cut marmalade, specialty teas and so on. Downstairs is an elegant wine bar as well as elegant kitchenware, luxury gifts and perfumes.

Liberty

Opening hours

10am-8pm Mon-Sat, noon-6pm Sun

An irresistible blend of contemporary styles in an old-fashioned mock-Tudor atmosphere, Liberty has a huge cosmetics department and an accessories floor, along with a breathtaking

lingerie section, all at very inflated prices. A classic London souvenir is a Liberty fabric print especially in the form of a scarf.

St David's

Opening hours

9.30am-8pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun

One of Britain's largest shopping centers (the equivalent of 30 football pitches), the redeveloped and greatly extended St David's was completed in 2009 at a cost of £675 million. All of the high-street chains you could name have a home here, along with a smorgasbord of eateries, a cinema multiplex and a large branch of the John Lewis department store, which dominates its south end.

Marks & Spencer

Marks and Spencer plc (also known as M&S; colloquially known as Marks and Sparks, Marks's or, simply, Marks) is a major British multinational retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London. It specializes in the selling of clothing, home products and luxury food products. M&S was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds.

In 1998, the company became the first British retailer to make a pre-tax profit of over £1 billion, although subsequently it went into a sudden slump, which took the company, its shareholders, who included hundreds of thousands of small investors, and nearly all retail analysts and business journalists, by surprise.