Harry Gordon Selfridge | |
|---|---|
 Selfridgec. 1910 | |
| Born | (1858-01-11)11 January 1858[1] Ripon, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | 8 May 1947(1947-05-08) (aged 89) |
| Resting place | St Mark's Churchyard,Highcliffe |
| Nationality | American British[2] |
| Occupation | Retail magnate |
| Known for | Founder ofSelfridges |
| Spouse | |
Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr. (11 January 1858 – 8 May 1947)[1][3] was an American retail magnate who founded the London-baseddepartment storeSelfridges. The early years of his leadership led to his becoming one of the wealthiest and most respected retail magnates in the United Kingdom. He was known as "the Earl of Oxford Street".[4]
Born inRipon, Wisconsin, and raised inJackson, Michigan, Selfridge delivered newspapers and left school at 14 when he found work at a local bank. Selfridge eventually obtained a stock boy position atMarshall Field's department store inChicago, where over the next 25 years, he rose to become a partner. In 1890 he marriedRose Buckingham who was from a prominent Chicago family.
In 1906 following a trip to London, Selfridge invested £400,000 to build a new department store in what was then the unfashionable western end ofOxford Street.Selfridges opened to the public on 15 March 1909, and Selfridge remained chairman until 1941.
Selfridge was born to Robert Oliver Selfridge and Lois Frances Selfridge (née Baxter) inRipon, Wisconsin,[5] on 11 January 1858,Note 1 one of three boys. Within months of his birth, the family moved toJackson, Michigan, as his father had acquired the town'sgeneral store. At the outbreak of theAmerican Civil War, his father joined theUnion Army. He rose to the rank of major, before being honorably discharged. However, he abandoned his family, not returning home after the war ended.[6]
This left his wife Lois to bring up three young boys. Selfridge's two brothers died at a very young age shortly after the war ended, so Harry became his mother's only child. She found work as a schoolteacher and struggled financially to support both of them. She supplemented her low income by painting greeting cards, and eventually became headmistress ofJackson High School. Selfridge and his mother enjoyed each other's company and were good friends; she lived with him and his family until her death in 1924.[7]
At the age of 10, Selfridge began to contribute to the family income by delivering newspapers. Aged 12, he started working at the Leonard Field'sdry-goods store. This allowed him to fund the creation of a boys' monthly magazine with schoolfriend Peter Loomis, making money from the advertising carried within.[citation needed]
Selfridge left school at 14 and found work at a bank in Jackson. After failing his entrance examinations to theUnited States Naval Academy inAnnapolis, Maryland, Selfridge became a bookkeeper at the local furniture factory of Gilbert, Ransom & Knapp. However, the company closed four months later, and Selfridge moved toGrand Rapids to work in the insurance industry.[citation needed]
In 1876, his ex-employer, Leonard Field, agreed to write Selfridge a letter of introduction toMarshall Field inChicago, who was a senior partner in Field, Leiter & Company, one of the most successful stores in the city (which soon becameMarshall Field and Company). Initially employed as a stock boy in the wholesale department, over the following 25 years, Selfridge worked his way up. He was eventually appointed a junior partner, married Rosalie Buckingham (of the prominent Chicago Buckinghams) and amassed a considerable personal fortune.[3]
After their marriage, the couple lived for some time with Rose's mother on Rush Street in Chicago. They later moved to their own home onLake Shore Drive. The Selfridges also built an imposing mansion called Harrose Hall in mock Tudor style onGeneva Lake inWisconsin, complete with large greenhouses and extensive rose gardens.[8] Over the next decade, the couple had five children:[9]
Throughout their married life, Harry's mother, Lois, lived with the family. While at Marshall Field, Selfridge was the first to promoteChristmas sales with the phrase "Only _____ Shopping Days Until Christmas", acatchphrase that was quickly picked up by retailers in other markets. Selfridge or Marshall Field are usually cited as the originators of the phrase "The customer is always right."[10]
In 1904, Harry opened his own department store called Harry G. Selfridge and Co. in Chicago. However, after only two months he sold the store at a profit toCarson, Pirie and Co.[11] He then decided to retire, and for the next two years puttered around his properties, mainly Harrose Hall.[8] He also bought a steam yacht, which he rarely used, and played golf.[12]
In 1906, when Selfridge travelled toLondon on holiday with his wife, he noticed that although the city was a cultural and commercial leader, its stores could not rival Field's in Chicago or the great galleries of Parisian department stores.
Recognizing a gap in the market, Selfridge, who had become bored with retirement, decided to invest £400,000 in a new department store of his own, locating it in what was then the unfashionable western end of London'sOxford Street but which was opposite an entrance to theBond Street tube station.[13] Thenew store opened to the public on 15 March 1909, setting new standards for the retailing business.[14]
Selfridge promoted the radical notion of shopping for pleasure rather than necessity. The store was extensively promoted throughadvertising. The shop floors were structured so that goods could be made more accessible to customers. There were elegant restaurants with modest prices, a library, reading and writing rooms, special reception rooms for French, German, American and "Colonial" customers, a First Aid Room, and a Silence Room, with soft lights, deep chairs, anddouble-glazing, all intended to keep customers in the store as long as possible. Staff members were taught to be on hand toassist customers, but not too aggressively, and tosell the merchandise.Oliver Lyttelton observed that, when one called on Selfridge, he would have nothing on his desk except one's letter, smoothed and ironed.[15]
Selfridge also managed to obtain from theGPO the privilege of having the number "1" as its own phone number, so anybody had to just ask the operator for Gerrard 1 to be connected to Selfridge's operators.[16] In 1909, Selfridge proposed asubway link toBond Street station; however, contemporaneous opposition quashed the idea.[13]
Selfridge's prospered duringWorld War I and up to the mid-1930s. TheGreat Depression was already taking its toll on Selfridge's retail business and his lavish spending had run up a £150,000 debt to his store. He became a British subject in 1937.[2] By 1940, he owed £250,000 in taxes and was in debt to the bank. In his 80s, the Selfridges board forced him out in 1941.[17] In 1951, the original Oxford Street Selfridges was acquired by theLiverpool-basedLewis's chain of department stores, which was in turn taken over in 1965 by theSears Group owned byCharles Clore.[18] Expanded under the Sears group to include branches inManchester andBirmingham,[19] in 2003 the chain was acquired by Canada'sGalen Weston for £598 million.[20]
In 1890, Selfridge marriedRosalie "Rose" Buckingham of the prominent Buckingham family of Chicago. Her father was Benjamin Hale Buckingham,[21] who was a member of a very successful family, with areal estate business established by her grandfather, Alvah Buckingham.[22] At 30 years old, Rose was a successfulproperty developer, having inherited money and expertise from her family. Rose had purchased land in Harper Ave,Hyde Park, Chicago and built 42 villas and artists cottages within a landscaped environment.[23] The couple had five children: three girls and two boys (though their first son died soon after birth).[9]
At the height of his success, Selfridge leasedHighcliffe Castle inHampshire, fromMajor GeneralEdward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley. In addition, he purchasedHengistbury Head, a mile-long promontory on England's southern coast, where he planned to build a magnificent castle; these plans never got off the drawing board, however, and in 1930 the Head was put up for sale. Although only a tenant at Highcliffe, he set about fitting modern bathrooms, installing steam central heating and building and equipping a modern kitchen.[24] DuringWorld War I, Rose opened a tented retreat at Highcliffe called theMrs Gordon Selfridge Convalescent Camp for American Soldiers on the castle grounds. Selfridge gave up the lease in 1922.[citation needed]
Selfridge's wife Rose died during theinfluenza pandemic of 1918; his mother, who lived with them, died in 1924. As a widower, Selfridge had numerous liaisons, including those with the celebratedDolly Sisters and the divorcée Syrie Barnardo Wellcome, who would later become better known as the decoratorSyrie Maugham. He also began and maintained a busy social life and entertained lavishly both at his home inLansdowne House, located at 9 Fitzmaurice Place, Mayfair, just offBerkeley Square, and on his private yacht, the SYConqueror, with VIP guests such asRudyard Kipling cruising the Mediterranean. Lansdowne House displays ablue plaque noting that Gordon Selfridge lived there from 1921 to 1929.[25]
During the years of theGreat Depression, Selfridge's fortune rapidly declined and then disappeared—a situation not helped by his free-spending ways. He gambled frequently and often lost. He also spent money on various showgirls.[17]
On 8 May 1947, Selfridge died ofbronchial pneumonia at his home in Putney, south-west London, aged 89.[2][26][27] His funeral was held on 12 May at St. Mark's Church in Highcliffe, after which he was buried in St Mark's Churchyard next to his wife and his mother.[28]
Selfridge's children were Chandler, who died shortly after birth; Rosalie, who married Serge de Bolotoff, later Wiasemsky; Violette (who wrote the bookFlying gypsies: the chronicle of a 10,000-mile air vagabondage and married first Vicomte Jacques Jean de Sibour and second Frederick T. Bedford); Harry Jr. "Gordon"; and Beatrice.
Selfridge's grandson,Oliver, who died in 2008, became a pioneer inartificial intelligence.[29] His grandson Ralph, who also died in 2008, was a professor of mathematics and computer science at the University of Florida from 1961 to 2002 and was called by many "the grandfather of digital simulation."[30]
Selfridge wrote a book,The Romance of Commerce, published by John Lane—The Bodley Head, in 1918, but actually written several years prior. In it are chapters on ancient commerce, China, Greece, Venice,Lorenzo de' Medici, theFugger family, theHanseatic League, fairs, guilds, early British commerce, trade and the Tudors, the East India Company, north England's merchants, the growth of trade, trade and the aristocracy,Hudson's Bay Company, Japan, and representative businesses of the 20th century.
Among the more popular quotations attributed to Selfridge:
The British period television drama seriesMr Selfridge broadcast from 6 January 2013 to 11 March 2016 onITV, starringJeremy Piven as Harry Gordon Selfridge.[17]
Secrets of Selfridges, produced by the independent UK companyPioneer Productions in its "Secrets of Britain" series, was an hour-long documentary about the London store and Harry Selfridge.[13]
