Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge

Nonfiction, History, British, Biography & Memoir, Historical
Cover of the book Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge by Lindy Woodhead, Random House Publishing Group
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Author: Lindy Woodhead ISBN: 9780812985054
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group Publication: February 12, 2013
Imprint: Random House Language: English
Author: Lindy Woodhead
ISBN: 9780812985054
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Publication: February 12, 2013
Imprint: Random House
Language: English

If you lived at Downton Abbey, you shopped at Selfridge’s.

Harry Gordon Selfridge was a charismatic American who, in twenty-five years working at Marshall Field’s in Chicago, rose from lowly stockboy to a partner in the business which his visionary skills had helped to create. At the turn of the twentieth century he brought his own American dream to London’s Oxford Street where, in 1909, with a massive burst of publicity, Harry opened Selfridge’s, England’s first truly modern built-for-purpose department store. Designed to promote shopping as a sensual and pleasurable experience, six acres of floor space offered what he called “everything that enters into the affairs of daily life,” as well as thrilling new luxuries—from ice-cream soda to signature perfumes. This magical emporium also featured Otis elevators, a bank, a rooftop garden with an ice-skating rink, and a restaurant complete with orchestra—all catering to customers from Anna Pavlova to Noel Coward. The store was “a theatre, with the curtain going up at nine o’clock.” Yet the real drama happened off the shop floor, where Mr. Selfridge navigated an extravagant world of mistresses, opulent mansions, racehorses, and an insatiable addiction to gambling. While his gloriously iconic store still stands, the man himself would ultimately come crashing down.

The true story that inspired the Masterpiece series on PBSMr. Selfridge is a co-production of ITV Studios and Masterpiece

“Enthralling . . . [an] energetic and wonderfully detailed biography.”—London Evening Standard

“Will change your view of shopping forever.”—Vogue (U.K.)

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

If you lived at Downton Abbey, you shopped at Selfridge’s.

Harry Gordon Selfridge was a charismatic American who, in twenty-five years working at Marshall Field’s in Chicago, rose from lowly stockboy to a partner in the business which his visionary skills had helped to create. At the turn of the twentieth century he brought his own American dream to London’s Oxford Street where, in 1909, with a massive burst of publicity, Harry opened Selfridge’s, England’s first truly modern built-for-purpose department store. Designed to promote shopping as a sensual and pleasurable experience, six acres of floor space offered what he called “everything that enters into the affairs of daily life,” as well as thrilling new luxuries—from ice-cream soda to signature perfumes. This magical emporium also featured Otis elevators, a bank, a rooftop garden with an ice-skating rink, and a restaurant complete with orchestra—all catering to customers from Anna Pavlova to Noel Coward. The store was “a theatre, with the curtain going up at nine o’clock.” Yet the real drama happened off the shop floor, where Mr. Selfridge navigated an extravagant world of mistresses, opulent mansions, racehorses, and an insatiable addiction to gambling. While his gloriously iconic store still stands, the man himself would ultimately come crashing down.

The true story that inspired the Masterpiece series on PBSMr. Selfridge is a co-production of ITV Studios and Masterpiece

“Enthralling . . . [an] energetic and wonderfully detailed biography.”—London Evening Standard

“Will change your view of shopping forever.”—Vogue (U.K.)

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