Selfridge's, Oxford Street, London.

Progress, Volume IV, Issue 8, 1 June 1909, Page 273

Selfridge's, Oxford Street, London.

An invitation has reached Progress, which, considering the distance it has travelled, cannot but be regarded as flattering by the editor and his staff. With this invitation runs the document "to the opening of the New Store in London, Messrs. Selfridge & Co. present you their compliments and hope to interest you with some little details of the magnitude of the work accomplished." The comfortable moral to be drawn from this pleasing form of words is that Progress travels further than many of its friends imagine. The interest is of course far more general than particular. This letter to us deals with the development of modern enterprise: it draws attention to the advancement in modern methods of business: it throws light upon the manner in which modern firms who are up-to-date cater for the business of their clients. Light is also thrown on the methods of construction, and on the broad lines on which modern business is conducted. For these reasons we do not hesitate to give the text of the letter we have received with the invitation so kindly extended to us. It will be found by most of our readers a revelation in the methods of modern British business. The enterprising proprietors undertake not only to sell you whatever you may want and whatever you are not likely to want at any time before your death, but to amuse you while you stay in their city and to eater for your personal wants, to see to your literary culture, and to make you comfortable in every possible way on a scale understood in clubland perhaps, but certainly nowhere else quite so thoroughly. Here is the letter: — Twelve months ago this Building was not begun. To-day it stands complete; a world's record in swift construction; a splendid testimony to the capability of British Labour; a monument in steel and stone to the power of will. In that main artery of London traffic, Oxford Street, and in the heart of the Shopping district, the great building conspicuously occupies an acre of land, while the floorage made available for selling purposes by such an ample site is six acres in extent — an area equal to all the street-level floors of Hegent Street from end to end. The Building is a modern fire-proof structure of steel and Portland Stone. It rests upon foundation walls which, 70 feet below the surface, are 27 feet thick. Its floors of ferro-concrete are eight in number, five above and three below the level of the street. Nine passenger lifts and five sepa-

rate fireproof stairways connect the floors, and everything that thought, experience, and skill can devise for the comfort, convenience, and safety of the people is an accomplished fact at " Self ridge 's. " A hundred different departments arp here established, and in general merchandise, in all that Men, Women, and Children wear, and in almost everything that enters into the affairs of daily life (excepting provisions, wines, &c), Messrs. Self ridge & Co. will aim to have and hold first rank ir public favour. In "things different" and in original features of interest, " Self ridge 's, " as expositors of the newest trading methods, claim a foremost place. The spacious Reception Rooms welcome all visitors; the Library and Silence Room give restful seclusion; a "First- Aid" ward, fully equipped, with a trained nurse in attendance, provides for any indisposition or mishap; the "Bureau de Change" negotiates letters of Credit, etc. ; Colonial Rooms with Registers for visitors will be appreciated by friends from overseas. The Bureau of Information, the Railway, Steamship, and Theatre Booking Offices, and Parcel and Cloak Check Desks, are one and all conveniences open to everyone. with grattdties neither expected nor alloived. The General Post Office has established here a Post, Telegraph, Savings Bank, and Money Order Office, a boon that will be valued. The Luncheon Hall is finely appointed, and will have an excellent Cuisine. Adjoining is the pretty TeaGarden open to the Sky, and a luxurious Smoking Lounge for Gentlemen. The telegraphic address is "Self ridge, London"; the Self ridge telephone number is "Gerrard One"; and there is telephonic ccmmunication between every counter and any part of the British Isles. In every sense of the word, " Self ridge 's " is complete. It is the pleasantest resort, as well as the most convenient shopping-place in Great Britain, and you are invited to make it your rendezvous whenever you are in London.