Harvey Nichols
Encyclopedia
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
chain. Its original store is in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Founded in 1813 as a linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
shop, it sells many international brands of clothing for women and men, fashion accessories, beauty products, wine and food. Harvey Nichols attracts more younger shoppers than its rival Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
.
History
In 1813 Benjamin Harvey opened a linen shop in a terraced house on the corner of KnightsbridgeKnightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
and Sloane Street
Sloane Street
Sloane Street is a major London street which runs north to south, from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, crossing Pont Street about half way along, entirely in The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Sloane Street takes its name from Sir Hans Sloane, who purchased the surrounding area in 1712...
in London. The business passed on to Harvey's daughter in 1820 on the understanding that she go into partnership with Colonel Nichols, selling Oriental carpets, silks, and luxury goods alongside the linens.
The existing Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
store, which was built by Higgs and Hill
Higgs and Hill
Higgs and Hill was a major British construction company responsible for building some of London's finest buildings.-History:The Company was established in 1874 by the merger of the firm of Thomas Hill with the firm of William Higgs...
, was opened in 1880, with the rear section added in 1932.
In 1919 Harvey Nichols was bought by Debenhams
Debenhams
Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...
, and in 1985 became part of the Burton Group. In 1991, the store was acquired by Dickson Concepts
Dickson Concepts
Dickson Concepts Ltd. is a Bermuda domiciled company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It has held the distributorship of Polo and Ralph Lauren products in Asia for in excess of twenty years...
an international retailer and distributor of branded luxury goods based in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Hong Kong. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and fifth largest in the world...
. In April 1996, Harvey Nichols obtained a full listing on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and for the next seven years, remained a listed company. 1996 also marks the year when Harvey Nichols opened their first store outside of London.
In February 2003 Harvey Nichols returned to private ownership. The store is now owned by the Hong Kong-based businessman Dickson Poon
Dickson Poon
Dickson Poon, SBS is a Hong Kong businessman in the luxury goods retailing sector. Poon is the executive chairman of his Hong Kong listed vehicle Dickson Concepts , which owns companies including Harvey Nichols and S. T. Dupont...
who has retail businesses in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.
As of 2011
In the United Kingdom, Harvey Nichols has stores in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. It also has a store in Al-Faysaliyah Tower in Riyadh
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, a store at Dundrum Town Centre
Dundrum Town Centre
"Dundrum Town Centre" is the name of a shopping centre located in Dundrum, in Dublin, in Ireland. It is Ireland's largest shopping centre with over 160 tenants, more than 80,000 square metres of floor space and over 3,400 car parking spaces...
, Dublin in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and one in Central
Central, Hong Kong
Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. It opened a store in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
's Kanyon Shopping Mall on 13 October 2006. In February 2006, it opened a store in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, designed by architecture firm Callison
Callison
Callison is an international architecture firm based in Seattle, Washington. Callison was founded by Tony Callison in 1975 and now has 800 employees around the world. The firm plans and designs retail, hospitality, mixed-use, workplace, corporate and healthcare projects worldwide. It's also ranked...
in the Mall of the Emirates
Mall of the Emirates
The Mall of the Emirates is a shopping mall in the Al Barsha district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was developed by Majid Al Futtaim Properties under the leadership of its CEO, Peter Walichnowski, who was also the developer of "Bluewater" near London, Europe's most successful shopping mall....
. The Dubai store is operated by Al Tayer Insignia, the luxury retail arm of Al Tayer Group
Al Tayer Group
Al Tayer Group is a privately held holding company established in 1979 . Currently the group has operations in 12 countries in the Middle East, including around 200 stores in multiple markets in the Middle East...
. A store in the Grand Indonesia
Grand Indonesia
Grand Indonesia is a mixed-use complex including a shopping mall and the Hotel Indonesia covering an area of about , located on the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Jakarta in Indonesia.-History:...
mall in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, Indonesia was operated by the Indonesian retail conglomerate Mitra Adiperkasa (MAP) from October 2008, but closed due to poor performance in September 2010 . The London flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
store is located in Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
, a few streets from rival Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
.
In addition to its fashion retailing business, Harvey Nichols redeveloped the top floor of its London flagship store to create a restaurant, bar, café, wine shop, and food market. A similar concept operates from the top floors of all Harvey Nichols full-size stores. Main competitors of Harvey Nichols on the worldwide gourmet and luxury food products scene include Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
and Fortnum & Mason
Fortnum & Mason
Fortnum & Mason, often shortened to just "Fortnum's" is a department store, situated in central London, with two other branches in Japan. Its headquarters is located at 181 Piccadilly, where it was established in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Fauchon
Fauchon
Fauchon is a French gourmet food company that was founded in 1886 by Auguste Fauchon. The company is based in Paris, France and operates retail outlets. Fauchon currently produces tea, chocolate, biscuits and sweets among other products.- History :...
and Hédiard in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
In 1996 Harvey Nichols launched its first stand-alone restaurant in London, the OXO Tower
OXO Tower
The OXO Tower is a building with a prominent tower on the south bank of the River Thames in London. The building currently has a set of bijou arts and crafts shops on the ground and first floors. A well-known restaurant is located on the 8th floor, which is the roof top level of the main building...
Restaurant, Bar, and Brasserie, viewing the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. Another restaurant, called Prism, was opened in the city's financial district
Financial District
A Financial District is the central area in some large cities where banks, insurance companies and other large corporations have head offices. Financial districts are often home to skyscrapers...
in 1999. Both OXO and Prism, and three of the in-store restaurants, were designed by London-based architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands
Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands is a practice of architects, urban designers and masterplanners established in 1986 and practicing out of London.-History:...
.
From 2011
Two new stores were announced on 25 January 2009, one to open in KuwaitKuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
in 2011 and another in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
in 2012/13.
In January 2010 the Westfield Group announced that Harvey Nichols had been invited to open its second store in the Southern Hemisphere at the $A860 million Westfield Sydney by 2012.
A store was announced to open in Admiralty, Hong Kong in October, 2011.
Controversy
Soon after opening a new store in EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in 2002, managers faced an official complaint after staff tried to stop a homeless man selling the Big Issue magazine outside.
In mid-2003 objections were made to a Harvey Nichols magazine advertisement that appeared in Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
, ELLE
Elle
Elle may refer to:*Elle, Central African Republic*Elle , a fashion publication*Ellé, a river in France*Elle , a female given name*Elle , a Sri Lankan game similar to baseball*Ælle of Sussex, a Saxon king...
and Harpers & Queen and on a poster. The complainants objected that the advertisement was irresponsible, because it showed unsafe driving and was offensive to people who had been, or who knew people who had been, involved in road accidents.
On 20 March 2004 protests stopped Harvey Nichols selling fur in the UK. In a statement, Clive Morton, the Company Director of Harvey Nichols, said: "The board has today reviewed the company's fur policy and has decided going forward that we will no longer stock real fur items."
In August 2007 Harvey Nichols decided to take foie gras
Foie gras
Foie gras ; French for "fat liver") is a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. This fattening is typically achieved through gavage corn, according to French law, though outside of France it is occasionally produced using natural feeding...
off the shelves in all their UK stores in response to pressure from PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
.