Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge

Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge

If you lived at Downton Abbey, you shopped at Selfridgeâ€™s.

Harry Gordon Selfridge was a charismatic American who, in twenty-five years working at Marshall Fieldâ€™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 Londonâ€™s Oxford Street where, in 1909, with a massive burst of publicity, Harry opened Selfridgeâ€™s, Englandâ€™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 â€œeverything that enters into the affairs of daily life,â€ as well as thrilling new luxuriesâ€”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 orchestraâ€”all catering to customers from Anna Pavlova to Noel Coward. The store was â€œa theatre, with the curtain going up at nine oâ€™clock.â€ 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 gloriouslyÂ iconic store still stands, the man himself would ultimately come crashing down.

The true story that inspired the Masterpiece series on PBSÂ â€¢Â Mr. Selfridge is a co-production of ITV Studios and Masterpiece

â€œEnthralling . . . [an] energetic and wonderfully detailed biography.â€â€”London Evening Standard
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â€œWill change your view of shopping forever.â€â€”Vogue (U.K.)
Country USA
Brand Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer Random House Publishing Group
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber Illustrated
Color Black
ReleaseDate 2013-02-12
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780812985047

Country	USA
Brand	Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer	Random House Publishing Group
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	Illustrated
Color	Black
ReleaseDate	2013-02-12
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780812985047

Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge

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