Knightsbridge icon tops world department store list, beating Selfridges and Macy’s
Harrods bills itself as “the world’s leading luxury department store” and now has another accolade to add, with the London landmark also coming top in the popularity stakes.
Recent data from Findmycasino.com has revealed that Harrods comes top of the world’s most popular department store list with a perfect 10/10 using three metrics – average global Google search volumes, Instagram hashtags and TikTok views – with fellow London store Selfridges second at 9.349/10, and New York’s Macy’s totalling 9.31/10 for third place.
With Liberty being the most popular on TikTok, it made the top 15 list, meaning England’s capital city is home to a fifth of the most popular department stores.
The first Harrod & Co Grocers was founded in Clerkenwell in 1832, then moved to the Brompton Road in what is now Knightsbridge in 1849, and claims to be a one-stop shop for “all things for all people,” across 330 departments – including Flowers Cards & Gifts on the lower ground floor – and 134,000 people per month Google the store with 1.5million pictures of the retailer on Instagram.
The second-largest shop in the UK, Selfridges was founded in 1909 and is Googled 109,000 times each month, but is loved by TikTokers with 47,300,000 views on the platform, 47million more than Harrods – although even that is dwarfed by Liberty’s 30billion views.
The full list of the world’s 15 most popular department stores is:
1 Harrods, London, 10/10
2 Selfridges, London 9.49/10
3 Macy’s, New York, 9.31/10
4 Galleries Lafayette, Paris, 8.97/10
5 Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, 8.55/10
6 David Jones, Melbourne, 8.46/10
7 Liberty, London, 8.37/10
8 Bloomingdales, New York, 7.52/10
9 Barneys, New York, 7.35/10
10 KaDeWe, Berlin, 7.18/10
11 El Corte Inglés, Madrid, 7.10/10
12 Beymen, Instanbul, 6.92/10
13 Bergdorf Goodman, New York, 6.84/10
14 Isetan, Tokyo, 6.58/10
15 Le Bon Marche, Paris, 6.58/10
Meanwhile, also in London, family-owned Fenwick has sold its New Bond Street store to investors Lazari for around £430million and will close its doors in 2024 after trading there since 1891.
The department store chain has eight other stores across the UK – Kingston, Brent Cross, Colchester, Canterbury, Bracknell, Tunbridge Wells, York, and the original Newcastle site opened in 1882 – alongside its growing online platform.
Fenwick’s ceo John Edgar said: “The capital injection from this transaction will put Fenwick in a much stronger position to grow its online business and concentrate on cementing our position as the home of excellent hospitality and a premium retail edit. After considering a range of different options, it was decided that selling the Bond Street property is the right course of action to set us on the strongest possible footing for the future.”
Chairman Simon Calver added: “This year Fenwick marked 140 years as a successful British retailer, and this deal will enable the business to continue to serve communities in stores and online for many years to come. The sale has been a difficult decision for the Fenwick family, who are committed to providing the business with the means to thrive for the long term. Their support will enable the next stage of the journey for the Fenwick family business.”
The move comes two months after Fenwick published its latest accounts, covering the year ended 28 January, showing another challenging time for the business but one in which it narrowed its operating losses to £18.3m, and net sales showed “considerable improvement”, rising 69% to £201.3m.
The Retail Bulletin reported Lazari Investments is said to be planning a mixed-use development at the London site once the store closes. David Silverman, director of Lazari Investments, said: “The Fenwick store and adjoining properties are a landmark collection of buildings on the world-renowned Bond Street. We are delighted to have entered into an agreement to purchase them.”
Top: Harrods tops the most popular department store list
