Harvey Nichols, founded in 1831, is an English department store chain with a flagship store
in Knightsbridge, London. It sells fashion collections for women and men, fashion accessories,
beauty products, wine and food.
History In 1831 Benjamin Harvey opened a linen shop
in a terraced house on the corner of Knightsbridge and Sloane Street in London.
In 1835 the shop expanded to number 8 next door, and would continue to expand into successive
properties over the following years. In 1841 Benjamin employed James Nichols from Oxfordshire.
In 1845 Nichols was promoted to management and in 1848 he married Harvey’s niece, Anne
Beale. Benjamin Harvey died in 1850, leaving the
business in the care of his wife Anne, who went into partnership with James Nichols to
form Harvey Nichols & Co. In 1889, the existing space was demolished
to make way for a new department store. The building was designed by C Q Stephens and
built in stages between 1889 and 1894. In 1904 the location underwent a change of address
to become 109-125 Knightsbridge. In 1920 Harvey Nichols was purchased by Debenhams.
In 1975 a restaurant called Harvey’s opened on the fifth floor. Princess Diana was a regular
client. In 1985 Harvey Nichols was bought by the Burton Group.
In 1991 the company was bought by Dickson Poon of Dickson Concepts and the store was
refurbished. A new restaurant, café, bar and food market, designed by architects Lifschutz
Davidson, opened on the fifth floor, with a lift which allowed for later opening hours
after the main store closed. Locations
As of 2013 In the United Kingdom, Harvey Nichols has
stores in London, Leeds, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and a Beauty Bazaar at
Harvey Nichols' store in Liverpool. It has a store in Al-Faysaliyah Tower in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, a store at Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin in Ireland and one in Central, Hong
Kong. It opened a store in Istanbul's Kanyon Shopping Mall on 13 October 2006. In February
2006, it opened a store in Dubai, designed by architecture firm Callison in the Mall
of the Emirates. The Dubai store is operated by Al Tayer Insignia,(Al Tayer group LLC)
the luxury retail arm of Al Tayer Group. A store in the Grand Indonesia mall in Jakarta,
Indonesia was operated by the Indonesian retail conglomerate Mitra Adiperkasa from October
2008, but closed due to poor performance in September 2010. The London flagship store
is located in Knightsbridge, a few streets from rival Harrods.
In addition to its fashion retailing business, Harvey Nichols redeveloped the top floor of
its London flagship store to create a restaurant, bar, café, wine shop, and foodmarket. A similar
concept operates from the top floors of all Harvey Nichols full-size stores. In 1996 Harvey
Nichols launched its first stand-alone restaurant in London, the OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar,
and Brasserie, viewing the River Thames. OXO and three of the in-store restaurants were
designed by London-based architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands.
From 2011 On 25 January 2009 a new store opening was
announced for Kuwait which is scheduled to open in autumn/winter 2012. On 21 December
2011, the Liverpool Daily Post newspaper reported that negotiations were in an advanced stage
for Harvey Nichols to open a store in the Liverpool One shopping centre, although this
was not confirmed by the store until 9 January 2012. The 22,000 square foot store is now
open in Manesty's Lane in the Liverpool One shopping area .
In January 2010 the Westfield Group announced that Harvey Nichols had been invited to open
its second store in the Southern Hemisphere at the A$860 million Westfield Sydney by 2012.
A store was announced to open in Admiralty, Hong Kong in October, 2011.
In May 2013, Harvey Nichols announced they were to double the size of the Birmingham
store located in The Mailbox complex. The store will cover 45,000 square foot, double
the size of the existing store. The renovation is expected to last until 2015.
From 2014 On 17 February 2014 Stacey Cartwright joined
Harvey Nichols as Chief Executive Officer of the Harvey Nichols Group of Companies.
She replaced Joseph Wan, who held the position of CEO for 21 years and who retired at the
end of March 2014. Controversy
Soon after opening a new store in Edinburgh in 2002, managers faced an official complaint
after staff tried to stop a homeless man selling the Big Issue magazine outside.
In mid-2003 objections were made to a Harvey Nichols magazine advertisement that appeared
in Vogue, ELLE and Harpers & Queen and on a poster. The complainants objected that the
advertisement was irresponsible, because it showed unsafe driving and was offensive to
people who had been, or who knew people who had been, involved in road accidents.
Fur Contention In September 2013, Harvey Nichols resumed
the sale of fur in its United Kingdom stores following a decade-long embargo. The decision
attracted much criticism, focused on the way animals were treated. The company denied allegations
of cruelty and insisted its furs are "ethically sourced" from reputable suppliers.
A Canadian company who supply coyote furs to Harvey Nichols has also publicly disclosed
a statement admitting capturing the animals from the wild in leg-hold traps. An article
which appeared in The Daily Mail in January 2014 suggested the coyotes can be "in pain
for days", with a Spokesperson from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals commenting:
"Mother animals will chew off their limbs in order to get back to their young. The trapped
animal might be there for days before the trapper comes and finds them, they are frightened
and starving and in pain during that time. And then they’re bludgeoned or strangled
to death or shot." During the Autumn / Winter 14 season, campaigners
also launched the Heartless Harvey Nichols campaign to tackle the sale of fur by the
company. Actions to date have included lobbying of the Department Store and holding high-profile
demonstrations inside shops, such as Harvey Nichols Leeds.
References Notes
External links Harvey Nichols website
Harvey Nichols online store Harvey Nichols adverts complaint
Harvey Nichols employment tribunals Harvey Nichols at Luxury Edinburgh
Harvey Nichols advertisements Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge project