Harry Gordon Selfridge was the first shopkeeper to use store window displays to tell visual stories. The founder of the eponymous department chain had what can best be described as a revolutionary understanding of advertising, publicity and the theatre of retail. In 1906, when he started his London store (it opened only in 1909), retail style was mostly "pile-’em-high, sell-’em-cheap". Interestingly, it was Selfridge who also first promoted Christmas sales with the phrase: "Only XXX Shopping Days Until Christmas". He was a pioneer of the rather radical notion of shopping for pleasure rather than necessity. Now, I Iove the shops. And more so during Christmas. There’s something about curated merchandise and resplendent displays that fosters a curious appreciation for consumption. In the big shopping capitals of the world — Paris, London and New York — there is an age-old tradition among (mostly) department stores. Each year they try to outdo each other with their festive store windows...
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