Harrods Proves Itself With Annual Financial Results
LONDON — Hurrahs are in order for Harrods as the luxury department store has recorded a 131.3 million pound increase in pretax profit, according to records from Companies House for the 52-week period ending January 2023.
The company also had a 52 percent increase in turnover to 994.1 million pounds, a 339.9 million pound boost from the previous year.
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Tim Parker, chief financial officer at Harrods, said: “2022 was a year of recovery and growth as we, like many others, continued to emerge from the impact of the COVID[-19] pandemic. At the beginning of 2022, with many international travel restrictions still in place, there was a subdued return of the global tourism trade that is so important to the U.K.”
As restrictions lifted, the store saw its gross transaction value exceed those of 2019 figures with a 51.1 percent increase and a growth of 714.1 million pounds. Heavy investments were made in their “physical and digital estate.”
“We remain focused on driving future growth via the curation of exclusive products and experiences that can only be found in Harrods, further enhancements in 2023 including new womenswear and furniture rooms as well as the ongoing development of our dining offerings and expansion of our private shopping services,” said Parker.
Harrods is owned by Qatar Investment Authority, which has a portfolio that includes the Shard building in central London and a stake in London’s central business district, Canary Wharf.
The department store was determined to outdo its competitors such as Selfridges and Harvey Nichols with larger-than-life installations.
Thailand’s Central Group and the Austrian property company Signa, which bought Selfridges in 2021 for 4 billion pounds from the Weston family, have since loaded up the business with more than 1.7 billion pounds in debt as a result of rising interest rates.
At Harvey Nichols, chief executive officer Manju Malhotra is stepping down at the end of the year as the business takes a new route.
In November last year, Harrods highlighted Dior by erecting gingerbread world across its store on its Brompton Road entrance, featuring white icing and clouds of sugar as well as a megastar measuring 17 meters. Forty-four windows were dedicated to the brand along with a café and two pop-up shops.
According to industry sources, “The Fabulous World of Dior” takeover generated more than 25 million pounds in sales, and transformed Dior into the number-one bestselling brand at Harrods. The store declined to confirm any figures, but said Dior was a “top performer” throughout the 2022 festive season.
The extravagance at the department store didn’t stop there, for Louis Vuitton’s global collaboration with Yayoi Kusama, a 15-meter robot statue of the artist was installed outside on Hans Crescent, where she’s peering into the third floor of the store.
The French luxury brand took over 27 Harrods windows adorned with giant colored dots and alive with anamorphic displays, all of which had been designed and made in London.
Dior returned this summer with another take over to showcase the fall 2023 women’s collections by Maria Grazia.
The first shop recreates a library decorated with the brand’s Plan de Paris print, which was inspired by a scarf designed by Monsieur Dior in the 1950s. The streets and monuments of the French capital are traced on the floor and walls.
Dior has also dressed the Harrods facade with Plan de Paris images, including Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and 30 Avenue Montaigne, Dior’s Paris headquarters. The facade facing Brompton Road features a large central panel while the windows are filled with bookshelves.
The second space is a gift shop adorned with Dior’s Florilegio print. Items on offer include D-Bobby bob hats, silk twill shirts, Mizza scarves and the Dior Book tote.
The third space recreates a cabinet of curiosities and stocks leather goods, and variations of the Lady Dior and Lady D-Joy bags in a kaleidoscope of color.
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