The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-05-02


said, that selfridge's new store in OK
ford Street is the first department |
store in London. A department store
is presumably store that is divided |
into departments, a store that will
sell you laces and ribbons at one end, |
brass cannon at the other, and bacon
and eggs in the middle, and of these
London has quite few, as, for ex-
ample. William Whiteley's, who calls
himself universal provider and who
can be telephoned for packet of pins
or wet nurse, according to the need
of the moment. But Selfridge's is the
first typically American department
store, the first store to combine its
own proper and regular facilities with
those of popular lounge and a club,
| the first store to make you welcome
with whole hearted hospitality and !
to lay itself out for your temporal well
fare and convenience without any APP
parent concern for its own profits.
And it may be said here that there
is no public resentment at the estab
lishment of an American store in Lon
don, no trace of aloofness in it's recep-
ton. There is no need for it to pre-
tend to be anything but American,
| and the more American 1t is the bet
| ter it will be for it. The great Ameri-
can flags floating in the wind-for ali
flags are equally welcome in London
lis the best advertisement that it can
| have, as other American stores, al
| though not department stores, have
| discovered to their profit. For a long
time past we have had in London
| what are called American novelty
| shops, and they have a great populari-
ty. These novelty shops abound in
the latest Yankee inventions Of a
simple kind, cunning little contriv-
ances for the saving Of domestic labor,
new ideas in tools, cheap watches, and
everything likely to attract the con-
sentative British eye by it's novelty or
utility. These shops do great trade.
and the display of the American flag
is the best indication of their where
abouts. The Englishman likes a novel
ty when it is offered to him if it can
appeal also by it's utility, and it is
therefore a little remarkable that his
I
to him.
| The other storekeepers in Oxford
Street had a foreboding knowledge
that Selfridge's department store
would be popular and they were
prompted to make a belated bid for
| public support. They broke out into a
perfect blaze of music, special attrac-
tons, and general frivolity for days
before the new store was opened and
| assumed an air of having always done
that kind of thing. What with the
| competition in prices and the pervad-
ing festivities the average shopper had
the time of her life, but she evident
ly felt no particular sense of gratitude
for these unusual concessions, seeing
that fguratively, speaking, she camp
ed outside Selfridge's store on the eve
of opening, and entered in a body as
soon as the doors were open. 1t was
true she did not buy very much on the
opening day, presumably having ex-
hausted her pocket money, but she
was pursued with a devouring curios-
ity which will certainly bring her
back again when the purse has been
replenished.
Selfridge has certainly done him
self proud and his country need not
be ashamed of him. Those who have
:, seen the Palace of Fine Arts in Paris
will know just how the exterior of
his building looks. Inside there is
nothing wanting, and a good many of
the conveniences need a special guide
for their calculation. For instance
there is silence room to which har-
assed shoppers may retire for awhile
in order that tangled nerves may be
restored by stiffness that can be
h felt. This is altogether a novelty in
London, but whether it will be popular
= | remains to be seen. There is a place
for lost, stolen, or strayed children OF
| where children may be left in compe
tent care, while their mothers are pur-
chasing. There is a physician in con
slant attendance, as we'll as a nurse
N case ladies should suddenly fee
themselves to be in need of medica
attention. Continental visitors are spe
cially cared for by the corps of inter
= prefers and the special rooms wher,
all civilized language are spoken, no
must the steamship office be overlook
ed where the courteous attendant viii
hand you ticket to Timbuctoo .
lie around the world with the same non
j. chalance with which he will suppl
r you with transportation to Oxford o
Kew. In short, Selfridge's store wi
"a Sl1nD11r all fba nonvaniences of olu