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Harrods is an upmarket department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. Apart from the store, the Harrods Group of companies includes Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Casino, Harrods Aviation and Air Harrods. The store occupies a 4.5 acre site and has over 1 million square feet (over 92,000 square metres) of selling space. * The Harrods motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique - All Things, For All People, Everywhere. Several of its departments, including the seasonal Christmas department and Food Hall are world famous for the abundance and quality of goods on offer. The nearest tube station to the flagship store is Knightsbridge on the fashionable street of that name, so Harrods called itself "Harrods of Knightsbridge", and effectively expanded Knightsbridge to include itself. Mohamed Al-Fayed who bought the store in 1985 for £615 million is the current Harrods' owner
History
Fur In the late eighties, Harrods stopped selling fur clothing. Recently it has resumed sale of fur, and currently Harrods is the only department store selling fur in the UK, and subjected to regular anti-fur demonstrations. It is seeking an injunction against the activists, and, as of writing this article, has obtained a temporary injunction allowing only 3 activists within ten metres of the entrances of the store at a time. This explains the yellow chalk line bordering Harrods. The anti - fur activists are urging consumers to boycott Harrods until the store stops selling fur. Mohamed Al-Fayed Store owner Mohammad Al-Fayed has had a tempestuous relationship with British authorities through the years. He has never been granted British citizenship despite his efforts over the last 20 years. Most newsworthy are his conspiracy claims against the Royal Family, particularly Prince Phillip, in regards to the death of his son Dodi Fayed and Princess Diana in the Paris Alma Tunnel. There is a memorial to the pair near Harrods' famous Egyptian escalators, and a life-sized statue of the lovers at Door 3. Royal Warrants Harrods was the holder of Royal Warrants from Harrods had held The Duke of Edinburgh's warrant from 1956, but it was rescinded by Prince Phillip on the 21st December 2001 because of a "significant decline in the trading relationship" between the Duke and the store. Speculation suggests that expansive conspiracy claims of Prince Phillip's personal involvement in the death of Al-Fayed's son and Princess Diana led to the warrant's removal. Al-Fayed then pre-emptively removed all the royal coats of arms prominently displayed by the business, even though other warrants were yet to be withdrawn or expire. None of the royal warrantors had shopped at Harrods since 1997. Further reading | ||||||||||
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