Mayfair & Marylebone: Innovations In Shopping

Mayfair and Marylebone, the neighbouring areas in central London

, are well known for their architecture, tourist attractions and parks. They are also particularly famous as shopping hubs in the heart of London. Both Mayfair and Marylebone are home to a wide range of shops and boutiques that are visited by thousands every year. There are also a number of shops within these districts that have had a profound impact on the history of shopping, shops that have changed the way things are done or that are renowned for being the biggest and the best of their kind. It is in this way, then, that Marylebone and Mayfair can be said to be home to some important innovations in shopping.

Savile Row is synonymous with elegant style for men. The street found in Mayfair is famous for its bespoke tailoring and its well-cut suits so much so that the Row has been dubbed the golden mile of tailoring. The street was originally built between 1731 and 1735 as part of the development of the Burlington Estate. The newly made Savile Row, named after Lady Dorothy Savile (the wife of the third Earl of Burlington, was initially inhabited by military officers and their wives. However, in the 19th century the focus of Savile Row moved towards tailoring. This was mainly down to the popularity amongst men of being neat, well presented and stylish that was sparked by Beau Brummell. Brummell patronised the tailors on the Burlington Estate and within a matter of years a number of tailors had taken up residence on Savile Row. Even the term bespoke, so synonymous with the area, was supposedly created in Savile Row as the cloth for a suit could be spoken for by a customer. Today Savile Row is still the focal point for mens tailoring and customers travel from all over the world to have suits made and tailored to precise standards.

Selfridges is probably one of the best known department stores in the UK. Its founder Henry Gordon Selfridge was born in 1856 in Wisconsin and through working his way up through Field, Leiter and Company and marrying into the Buckingham family he was able to open his own store in London in 1909. It can be argued that Gordon Selfridge has had one of the biggest impacts on the way we shop today. He made shopping a spectacle and tried to make it fun and exciting, instead of an arduous chore. While he was still working in America he illuminated the shop windows, creating something of a stage for the products on offer. In his own London store he put the perfume counter front-and-centre and put merchandise on display so that customers could easily examine it. Selfridges was also well known for the displays that they exhibited in the store. Most notable of the displays were Louis Blriots monoplane in 1909, used in the first flight over the channel, and John Logie Bairds first public demonstration of a television in 1925. The London store today is the second largest shop in the UK and its vivid history helped to bring new aspects and fun to shopping.

Hamleys in London is the biggest toy store in the world and attracts millions of customers, tourists and visitors every year. Hamleys was originally a toy shop called Noahs Ark that was founded by William Hamley in 1760. The toy shop with its bright displays and huge array of toys soon become wildly popular. Within eighty years, the shop had already become a London landmark and attraction. A new branch was opened in 1881 in Regent Street, where the store still stands today, and five further floors of toys were added to the shop. Hamleys influence on toy selling was so great that the store was given two royal warrants one by Queen Mary in 1938 and the other by the current Queen Elizabeth II in 1955. To this day Hamleys has been a magnet for adults and children alike, with thousands stepping through the doors every month. The shop was bombed five times in the Second World War but did not slow down. The staff wore tin hates and served customers at the entrance, having to dash inside to collect the toys.

Like Hamleys and Selfridges, another giant in the London shopping world is Fortnum and Mason. The shop was founded by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason in 1707. The two met when Fortnum took up Masons spare room. Fortnum worked as a footman for Queen Anne and Mason had a small shop in St Jamess Market. The Royal Family at the time insisted on having new candles every night and Fortnum was able to sell on the half-used candles for a tidy profit. Using these profits allowed Fortnum and Mason to open their own store. Fortnum and Mason, the shop, is today well regarded for its high quality goods and for the sale of products that are not sold anywhere else. It is an iconic British symbol and has held a number of royal warrants. Fortnum and Mason began to take off when Charles Fortnum, Williams grandson, went into the service of Queen Charlotte. The affiliation with the Royal Court led to an increase in business for Fortnum and Mason. It hasnt stopped since. In the Napoleonic Wars the store sent dried fruit, spices and various other foodstuffs to the British Officers and later on during the Crimean War Queen Victoria sent supplies of Fortnums concentrated beef tea to Florence Nightingales hospitals. Fortnum and Mason are well known for their innovations in food shopping, they were supposedly the inventors of the scotch egg and in 1886 were the first store in Britain to stock tins of baked beans.

by: Izzy Evans

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