Did you know Selfridges was taken over by the Saudis and a Thai Investment Group a couple of years ago and it shows.
All the good taste, and conjured excitement to shop has been drained away leaving behind a soulless commercial shell full of likely zero hour contract staff on strict timetables, clock in clock out schedules and tough sales targets. I don’t know this for sure but that’s what it feels like as a customer.
It’s been a long time since you’ve been able to buy a bra or a pair of socks, two things I like to shop for in Selfridges, a sheaf of writing paper, or an ink cartridge. I have to go to Liberty in London for this kind of department store browsing and shopping, the kind of luxury curated offering a trip to Selfridges used to offer.
That said Birmingham Selfridges was the only remaining destination shop for fashion, expensive high end on the third floor, middle of the road brands on the second floor, outside of London. A short jaunt from Leicester I like to go with my sister 4 times a year to see what’s up.
And usually blow a few hundred quid on something unique and irresistable.
Not this time.
What has happened?? The fashion on the lower floor has completely shrunk away to nothing. Skims seems to have the largest concession at one end taking up the whole wall and on either side, leggings and sweatshirts from cheaper brands like Adanola, Tala, and Bo and Tee. They are clearly catering to the influencer crowd not the luxury fashion shopper.
On the other side I was horrified by the merchandising, so shocking I had to snap pictures, I didn’t know if I was in a costume shop, a drag show, or the merchandisers had just lost their minds completely.
These wide brim hats were such poor quality they could have been resurrected from Woolworths in the 1970s.
If you wanted a great quality T shirt, well made, sustainable, forget it, a plain cashmere jumper, I looked at Joseph upstairs and the selection was weird over designed shapes in odd colours, no black, no navy, no grey, no cream, I don’t understand.
When the owner of Uniqlo has made 50 billion selling staples???? The clothes people wear every day.
Upstairs the Victoria Beckham rails were filled with size 4 and size 6, at a UK size 12 nothing would fit me even if I had £870 to spend on a pair of Gucci footless tights. The only staple item I looked at in the whole shop. I kid you not.
There is a massive Sephora like beauty and skincare section which was good. Like a high end boots which has replaced a lot of the less expensive fashion offering. The perfume counters are well stocked with limited edition to Selfridges options like Solferino and Maison Crivelli but hold onto your wallet, to experience more than a squirt in store you need a couple of hundred quid spare even for a small bottle.
We did get a top tip when trying perfume, smell coffee beans inbetween scents to not get a sensory overload.
The best areas for help and assistance, the old fashioned shopping experience in Selfridges Birmingham is the perfume, the staff are knowledgable and super experienced. My sister did buy perfume just because this was the best shopping experience of the with a really skilled and passionate assistant. I nearly bought a pair of sunglasses for the same reason, we were having fun, a great interaction with a good sales assistant. The only thing that stopped me is I need prescription lenses for driving.
I didn’t think I’d get my wear for the investment with paying more to put my prescription in them.
The assistants in the fashion departments were either too young to build rapport with people knowledgable about fashion themselves or too pushy. When you are looking at fashion you need enough time to find something you love before you need help.
The make up counter assistants ranged from highly skilled and intuitive, the lady on Bobby Brown was excellent and we shopped, the lady on Nars was terrible and we didn’t.
The lady on Victoria Beckham had no idea of store layout beyond her own concession and the staff on Le Labo didn’t know how much things were.
I am going to Selfridges on Oxford Street this week to have the experience in a different location. I hope it’s more like the Selfridges of old. A shopping experience, full of atmosphere and anticipation, the kind of theatre that makes you love spending where the staff are memorable and full of knowledge, energy and genuine love and passion for what they are selling.
Otherwise like Harvey Nichols, I am afraid we’ll be saying good bye to Selfridges as we know it.
Selfridges online for me, may be convenience, but it’s not Selfridges really now is it?