London’s landmark store, Selfridges, has been crowned the World’s Best Department store by the International Association of Department Stores and the Intercontinental Group of Department Stores.
In the awards second year Selfridges has defeated last year’s winner Saks Fifth Avenue, and other esteemed department stores the likes of New York’s Bloomingdales and Hong Kong’s Lane Crawford store.
The award was given at the Global Department Store Summit in New York, and was decided by retail executives and shopping experts from around the globe. The different stores were judged on areas such as brand strength, industry innovation, financial success, customer experience, service and satisfaction.
Selfridges vice-chairman, Paul Kelly, was on hand to collect the award: “We are delighted to have won this very special award and very proud of our teams who have all contributed in making this happen. This is very much in recognition of their hard work. This centenary-old brand built on the most extraordinary heritage, confirms that Selfridges is the most relevant and exciting department store today”, he said.
Selfridges has been a part of London since its opening in 1909, the American businessman George Selfridge founded the store. In 1998 it was floated on the London Stock Exchange before being purchased by its current owner, the Canadian businessman Galen Weston.