Selfridges

Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of large department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1908.

The historic Daniel Burnham-designed Selfridges flagship store at 400 Oxford Street in London is the second-largest shop in the UK (after Harrods). It opened on 15 March 1909. Other Selfridges stores opened in Manchester at the Trafford Centre (1998) and Exchange Square (2002), and in Birmingham at the Bullring (2003).

During the 1940s, smaller Selfridges stores were sold to the John Lewis Partnership, and in 1951, the original Oxford Street store was bought by the Liverpool-based Lewis's chain of department stores. Lewis's and Selfridges were then taken over in 1965 by the Sears Group, owned by Charles Clore. The business expanded under the Sears Group to include branches in Manchester and Birmingham. It was bought in 2003 by Canada's Galen Weston for £598 million. In December 2021, the Weston family agreed to sell the majority of Selfridges Group for around £4 billion to a joint venture between Thai conglomerate Central Group and Austria's Signa Holding.

Selfridges & Co. was named the Best Department Store in the World in 2010, 2012  and 2014."Our Heritage." Selfridges & Co. , n.d.  Web. 20 May 2014.

It is owned by the Signa Holding group, which is owned by Austrian real estate billionaire René Benko. It filed for administration in 2023.

References

Category:1908 establishments in Europe
Category:1900s establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Department stores
Category:Retail companies of the United Kingdom