department store founded 1909 founder harry gordon selfridge headquarters oxford street london united kingdom number of locations 4 oxford street london trafford centre manchester exchange square manchester bullring birmingham key people alannah weston former creative director 2004 2014 and deputy chairman at the store s parent company selfridges group since 2014 linda hewson creative director since 2014 anne pitcher u.k. managing director 1 owner galen weston website http www.selfridges.com selfridges also known as selfridges & co. is a chain of high end department stores in the united kingdom . it was founded by harry gordon selfridge . the flagship store on london s oxford street is the second largest shop in the uk after harrods and opened 15 march 1909 . 2 other selfridges stores opened in the trafford centre 1998 ; exchange square 2002 in manchester ; and in the bullring birmingham 2003 . in the 1940s smaller provincial selfridge stores were sold to the john lewis partnership and in 1951 the original oxford street store was acquired by the liverpool based lewis s chain of department stores . 3 lewis s and selfridges were then taken over in 1965 by the sears group owned by charles clore . 4 expanded under the sears group to include branches in manchester and birmingham 5 in 2003 the chain was acquired by canada s galen weston for 598 million . 6 the shop s early history was dramatised in itv s 2013 series mr selfridge . 7 contents 1 history 2 architecture 3 windows 4 opening day and marketing 5 controversy 6 in culture 7 references 8 further reading 9 external links history edit harry gordon selfridge circa 1880 . selfridges nameboard the basis of selfridge s success was his relentlessly innovative marketing which was elaborately expressed in his oxford street store . originally from america himself selfridge attempted to dismantle the idea that consumerism was strictly an american phenomenon . 8 he tried to make shopping a fun adventure and a form of leisure instead of a chore transforming the department store into a social and cultural landmark that provided women with a public space in which they could be comfortable and legitimately indulge themselves . 8 emphasizing the importance of creating a welcome environment he placed merchandise on display so customers could examine it moved the highly profitable perfume counter front and centre on the ground floor and established policies that made it safe and easy for customers to shop . these techniques have been adopted by modern department stores around the world . either selfridge or marshall field is popularly held to have coined the phrase the customer is always right 9 and selfridge used it regularly in his advertising . oxford street store in london selfridge attracted shoppers with educational and scientific exhibits and was himself interested in education and science believing that the displays would introduce potential new customers to selfridges and thus generate both immediate and long term sales . in 1909 after the first cross channel flight louis bl riot s monoplane was put on display at selfridges where it was seen by 12 000 people . john logie baird made the first public demonstration of moving silhouette images by television from the first floor of selfridges from 1 to 27 april 1925 . in the 1920s and 1930s the roof of the store hosted terraced gardens cafes a mini golf course and an all girl gun club . the roof with its spectacular views across london was a popular place for strolling after a shopping trip and was often used for fashion shows . during the second world war the store was bombed but survived comparatively unscathed besides the famous roof gardens which were destroyed and not reopened 10 until 2009 . a milne shaw seismograph was set up on the oxford street store s third floor in 1932 attached to one of the building s main stanchions where it remained unaffected by traffic or shoppers . it successfully recorded the belgian earthquake of 11 june 1938 which was also felt in london . in 1947 it was given to the british museum . the huge sigsaly scrambling apparatus by which transatlantic conferences between american and british officials most notably winston churchill and franklin d. roosevelt were secured against eavesdropping was housed in the basement from 1943 on with extension to the cabinet war rooms about a mile away . 11 selfridges at the trafford centre which opened in 1998 in 1926 selfridges set up the selfridge provincial stores company which had expanded over the years to include sixteen provincial stores but these were sold to the john lewis partnership in 1940 . the liverpool based lewis s chain of department stores acquired the remaining oxford street shop in 1951 until it was taken over in 1965 by the sears group owned by charles clore . 4 under the sears group branches in ilford and oxford opened with the latter remaining selfridges until 1986 when sears rebranded it as a lewis s store . in 1990 sears holdings split selfridges from lewis s and placed lewis s in administration a year later . in march 1998 selfridges acquired its current logo in tandem with the opening of the manchester trafford centre store and selfridges demerger from sears . in september 1998 selfridges expanded and opened a department store in the newly opened trafford centre in greater manchester . following its success selfridges announced they would open an additional 125 000 square foot 11 600 m2 store in exchange square manchester city centre . the exchange square store opened in 2002 as manchester city centre started to return to normal following the 1996 manchester bombing . a 260 000 square foot 24 000 m2 5 store opened in 2003 in birmingham s bull ring . manchester exchange square selfridges in 2003 the chain was acquired by canada s galen weston for 598 million and became part of selfridges group which also includes brown thomas in ireland holt renfrew in canada and de bijenkorf in the netherlands . weston a retailing expert who is also the owner of major supermarket chains in canada has chosen to invest in the renovation of the oxford street store rather than to create new stores in british cities other than manchester and birmingham . 12 anne pitcher is the managing director of selfridges while irish retailer paul kelly who has worked for the weston organisation since the mid 1980s is managing director of selfridges group . citation needed in october 2009 selfridges revived its rooftop entertainment with the opening of the restaurant on the roof . clarification needed in july 2011 truvia created an emerald green boating lake with a waterfall a boat up cocktail bar and a forest of stevia plants . clarification needed in 2012 the big rooftop tea and golf party featured the highest afternoon tea on oxford street and a nine hole golf course with the seven wonders of london realised in cake as obstacles . 13 architecture edit selfridges in birmingham selfridge stores are known for architectural innovation and excellence and are tourist destinations in their own right . the original london store was designed by daniel burnham who also created the marshall field s main store in his home town of chicago . burnham was the leading american department store designer of the time and had works in boston filenes s new york gimbel s wanamaker s and philadelphia wanamaker s his magnum opus . 14 the london store was built in phases . the first phase consisted of only the nine and a half bays closest to the duke street corner 15 and is an example of one of the earliest uses of steel cage frame construction for this type of building in london . this circumstance according to the report of a contemporary london correspondent from the chicago tribune was largely responsible for making possible the eventual widespread use of chicago s steel frame cage construction system in the united kingdom . under the pressure of mr. selfridge and the interests allied with him the councilors admitted the soundness of american building methods and framed a bill which will be pressed at once in parliament sic to permit these methods to be used here . . 16 a scheme to erect a massive tower above the store was never carried out . also involved in the design of the store were american architect francis swales who worked on decorative details and british architects r. frank atkinson and thomas smith tait . 17 18 the distinctive polychrome sculpture above the oxford street entrance is the work of british sculptor gilbert bayes . the daily telegraph named selfridges in london the world s best department store in 2010 . 19 detail of sculpture above the entrance of selfridges on the oxford street london the trafford store is noted for its use of stone and marble and for the exterior which strikingly resembles the london store . each of the five floors of the exchange square store in central manchester was designed by a different architect and has its own look and feel . in december 2009 store officials announced that the store will undergo a 40 million renovation to give it a more iconic look that has been associated with selfridges . it has been announced the store will feature art installations using led lighting that will be projected to the outside of the building at night . citation needed the birmingham store designed by architects future systems is covered in 15 000 spun aluminium discs on a background of yves klein blue . 20 since it opened in 2003 the birmingham store has been named every year by industry magazine retail week as one of the 100 stores to visit in the world . 21 the building is also included as a desktop background in the architecture theme in windows 7 . windows edit a selfridges window display selfridges windows have become synonymous also with the brand and to a certain degree have become as famous as the company and oxford street location itself . selfridges has a history of bold art initiatives when it comes to the window designs . selfridge himself likened the act of shopping to the act of attending the theater and encouraged his customers to make this connection as well by covering his show windows with silk curtains before dramatically unveiling the displays on opening day . 8 just as they do today the window designs served as the opening act of the entire play of the selfridge experience and helped capture the public s attention to transform customers into true shoppers . later when the building was undergoing restoration the scaffolding was shrouded with a giant photograph of stars such as sir elton john by sam taylor wood . the windows consistently attract tourists designers and fashionistas alike to marvel at the current designs and styling and fashion trends . since 2002 the windows have been photographed by london photographer andrew meredith and published in magazines such as vogue dwell icon frame creative review hungarian stylus magazine design week harper s bazaar the new york times wgsn as well as many worldwide media outlets including the world wide press journals blogs and published books . 22 opening day and marketing edit the long lasting influence that gordon selfridge would have on shopping and department stores became immediately clear with selfridges opening day . the store s opening to much fanfare on march 15 1909 laid the foundation for the success of the entire lifestyle that selfridge aimed to promote . even before the unveiling of the window displays innovative marketing techniques set up the momentous occasion and the store for great success . gordon selfridge developed close relationships with the media to ensure that his store and its opening were properly publicized . 8 the opening week ad campaign relied mainly on unpaid promotions in the