Harrods
Harrods is a British luxury department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is owned by Harrods Ltd, a company currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies, including Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air Harrods. Recognised as one of the world's leading department stores, it is visited by 15 million people per year.
Harrods department store in London, 2009 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Genre | Department store |
| Founded | 1849 |
| Founder | Charles Henry Harrod |
| Headquarters | 87–135 Brompton Road London, SW1 |
| Products | Quality and luxury goods |
| Revenue | £2 billion (2017) |
| £253.3 million (2017) | |
Net income | £233.2 million (2017) |
| Owner | Qatar Investment Authority |
Number of employees | ca. 4,000 (2019) |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | harrods.com |
The store occupies a 5-acre (2 ha) site and has 330 departments covering 1.1 million sq ft (100,000 m2) of retail space. It is one of the largest and most famous department stores in the world.
The Harrods motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique, which is Latin for "all things for all people, everywhere". Several of its departments, including the Seasonal Christmas department, jewellery departments and the Food Halls, are well known.
Harrods was also a founder of the International Association of Department Stores in 1928, which is still active today, and remained a member until 1935. Franck Chitham, Harrods' president at the time, was president of the Association in 1930.