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HARROD’S



One of the many reasons why a trip to London is always interesting and invigorating for me is the presence of Harrod’s department store in its Knightsbridge neighborhood. Harrod’s is not just a department store – it is the ultimate department store! The story is told (I am fairly certain that it is apocryphal) that a person phoned Harrod’s and asked to speak to the chief manager of the establishment. When connected to the manager, the customer stated that he wished to purchase an elephant from the store. The manager, in his typically unflappable British manner, replied: “Certainly, sir. Would that be Indian or African?” And that pretty much sums up shopping at Harrod’s.

 

                     Of course, there are such other stores in the world – Neiman-Marcus and Bloomingdale’s in the United States, Galleries Lafayette in Paris and many other fine stores throughout the world, but as far as I am concerned, Harrod’s is the store in the world. The building that houses the store itself is a masterpiece of Alice in Wonderland design. The aisles go on forever through a bewildering maze of different shops that sell apparently everything created my man and nature. Even if one does not purchase any of the items on sale in the store, and none of them are cheaply priced, the experience of visiting the store building itself and wandering through its endless variety of goods, is in itself exciting, even exhilarating. The “Egyptian Staircase” running through the floors of the store is a combination of the British Museum and Disneyland. There are also a bank, a travel agency, a booking desk for tours and theater tickets, a Japanese-speaking customer service desk, as well as an Arabic-speaking service desk, among other varied conveniences. Harrod’s has the quality of being so terribly English while at the same time radiating an ambience of cosmopolitanism, sophistication and international charm. The only jarring note that I found in the entire store is a rather tacky memorial to Princess Diana and her lover, the son of the owner of the store. It really does no justice to the unfortunate couple or to Harrod’s itself.            

                                         

                     The food shops at Harrod’s are things of wonder. The uniforms worn by the employees there are entertaining and cheerful. Brightly striped shirts, wide-brimmed hard straw hats and dark green (Harrod’s favorite color) aprons bedeck the eager to serve workers there. There is a cheese department that has literally hundreds of different cheeses from all parts of the globe on sale. The meat department has product made from almost every known animal in the world. In case you don’t get the full picture there are carcasses of rabbits, fowl (a wide variety, not just plain chicken), deer, pigs, sheep, bovines, etc. actually hanging from the ceiling of the meat food hall. What a sight! But not for those with a queasy stomach. There are jams and jellies, condiments, canned goods, bakery products, dairy products, candies, snacks, sweets, teas, coffees, etc. in such abundance and variety as to make one’s head spin. There is a kosher food section in the food halls as well. It is well stocked with local kosher products as well as many foods from Israel and the United States and Canada. I was pleasantly surprised to see how crowded with customers the kosher food section was, and I am confident that most of the purchasers were not Jewish. I noticed a number of Moslems purchasing food in the kosher section, though there is a special section in the food halls to service the Moslem population as well. The food halls exude an ambience of squeaky-clean efficiency, deluxe customer service and a cheerfulness that one does not see in the in the usual supermarkets that I have frequented.

 

                     My real reason for visiting Harrod’s, aside from the experience of being in the store itself, was to purchase a suit for myself. Seven years ago, I purchased a suit at Harrod’s and paid the exorbitant price of five hundred pounds sterling. At the time, I regretted my extravagance. But the suit wore like iron and I received seven years of pretty constant good wear from it. Seen in that light, since most of my other suits have only a two-year life span, the suit I bought at Harrod’s was a bargain. But even Harrod’s suit begins to fray eventually and I noticed that given the constant use I make of it, the suit was coming to its natural demise. So, I decided to splurge and buy a suit there at Harrod’s once again.

 

                     One of the main differences of shopping at Harrod’s and shopping in an American departments store is the abundance of salespeople absolutely eager to help you at Harrod’s and the absence of any such people in the larger American department stores. A very solicitous gentleman salesperson found the perfect suit for me, pinned the necessary tailoring and fitting requirements (I am no longer a 42 regular) and took care of the payment for it all by himself. Since I bought the suit on Thursday afternoon and I was leaving to return to Israel on Sunday afternoon, I requested that the tailoring be completed and the suit delivered on Friday afternoon to the home of my friends with whom I was staying in north London. Knowing that this request would be deemed an impossibility in Israel or even in America, I was somewhat worried as to whether the “elephant” would be delivered on time. My English host, who knows how to speak the English language the proper English way, phoned up Harrod’s Friday morning to make certain that the matter was being properly taken care of. He was assured that all was in order and that there was no need for me to fret regarding the timely delivery. Sure enough, when I returned with my host to his home after the early Friday night Sabbath prayers, the woman of the house proudly told me that the “elephant” had indeed arrived. Harrod’s was just simply being Harrod’s. And what a magnificent suit bag they delivered it in! My host assured me that the suit bag was equal in value to the suit itself. Apparently such bags are passed down from one generation to the next as a valued family heirloom.

 

                     Since the al-Fayad family that owns Harrod’s is not as yet a regular subscriber to the Wein Press, I really have no ulterior motive in writing this piece about their store. I am simply convinced that Harrod’s is an experience worth undergoing when you visit London. The queen of England, in pique over the Diana incident, has removed the royal appointment and seal from Harrod’s. But my seal of approval is still present and I will let you know how well and long this new Harrodian suit wears and lasts.