London and New York top world's best department stores

The Global Department Store Summit(GDSS) was held in New York this year from 10-11 June. Participants included top executives from over 280 stores worldwide with Selfridges in London taking the title of world's best department store followed by Bloomingdales in New York City. Lane Crawford in Hong Kong came in third. Criteria which were assessed included strength of brand, innovation, in store experience, customer service and financial results.

Selfridges

Harry Gordon Selfridge founded Selfridges and is widely credited with coining the expression "the customer is always right". Techniques for marketing at Selfridges are techniques that were adopted by department stores all over the world such as placing the highly profitable perfume counters at the front of the store in the middle. Unusual and interesting exhibits were also features which attracted shoppers to come back to the shop. In 1909, Louis Bleriot's monoplane was exhibited in Selfridges after it's first cross channel flight. Innovation in bold marketing is epitomised by Selfridges world famous window displays which have been pored over by photographers for generations and published in many magazines worldwide including Vogue, Design Week, Harpers Bazaar and the New York Times. 1-27 April 1925 saw the first public demonstration of the television which was given from the first floor of Selfridges by John Logie Baird. Selfridges stores are also known for their architectural excellence and the London flagship store was designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham who also designed the Marshall Fields department store in Chicago.

Bloomingdales

Window displays also became a trademark of Bloomingdales with many imported European products used as a centrepiece to elaborate theatrical backgrounds. Another trademark is the small medium and large brown bags which have became a part of a shopping trip to Bloomingdales from 1973. Bloomingdales target market became the affluent young professional classes in New York and around the same time as the brown bag was brought into use, many expensive designers were supplying the store. Famously, in 1976 traffic was reversed on Lexington Avenue so that Queen Elizabeth II could exit her vehicle on the right hand side and enter the store through the main entrance.