Harrods welcomes new line in style
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, September 23, 2001
LONDON — LONDON — The Harrods Fine Furniture Collection came home to its illustrious parent here with a lavish launch that featured high-style partying and heavy-hitting promotion.
Mohamed Al Fayed, the chairman of the world-renowned department store, mingled with the more than 250 guests who attended the kickoff party. The event was held in the third-floor furniture department, part of which was renovated specifically to showcase the Harrods furniture and accessory offerings, produced by Highland House and John Richard, respectively.
The presentation was lush, with more than half a dozen highly accessorized room settings taking center stage.
Raine, Countess Spencer, hailed the collection as a testament to the "vision and legendary attention to detail of our chairman," who has said it is part of his drive to make Harrods-branded merchandise available to a wider audience.
Al Fayed welcomed the partygoers, who included knights and ambassadors among the British contingent and Thomasville, Highland House and John Richard executives on the American side. Champagne flowed freely, and the appetizers, from the retailer's owned famed food halls, were as stylish as the furniture and accessories.
Countess Spencer, a Harrods director who promoted the furniture line with an appearance at Highland House during the market in High Point a year ago, was the featured speaker. She recalled a question she was asked by a retailer in High Point: "Can I slump on that sofa and watch baseball?" Her response: "I said, 'Certainly.' This furniture is for daily living.'"
She offered a glowing assessment of the furniture, the designs of which were inspired by furniture and objects in the Harrods archives: "The carving is exquisite, and the quality is extraordinary. … It will never go out of fashion. It is elegant, useful and very down to earth."
She also said she had ordered a number of the pieces for her own use. "I am convinced" of the collection's appeal, she said.
Countess Spencer also gave a sales update on the American response to the Harrods Fine Furniture collection, which hit retail floors in the United States this past March. She said the furniture is "a bestseller on the other side of the Atlantic."
The collection also figures to sell well at Harrods, the 1.2 million-square-foot store in the fashionable Knightsbridge section of London that is one of the city's most-visited sites.
Harrods is touting the collection by devoting some of its most important real estate — its display windows on heavily traveled Brompton Road — to the furniture and accessories. Four windows spotlight key pieces, a presentation worth hundreds of thousands of dollars per month, based on the prices vendors pay to have their merchandise highlighted in the windows. Harrods set up the furniture windows at no charge to Highland House, an indication of the retailer's commitment to the collection and the strength of its partnership with Highland House.
"This has been a very important collaboration," said Marty Wickstrom, Harrods' chief operating officer, who was among the dignitaries at the kickoff party. "We couldn't work with a better or more responsible partner than Highland House. They've given the furniture legs to go around the world."
The collection does have worldwide distribution. It is carried by retailers as far away as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Singapore, in addition to more than 70 placements in the United States and Canada.
Tom Staats, Highland House's general manager, also called attention to the international flavor of the collection.
"The way this collection has evolved reflects a microcosm of the way the global furniture business will be transacted in the future," he said. "The collection represents resources from at least seven different countries — from the upholstery fabrics to detailed wood carvings and fine finishes. Due to the power represented by our parent company, Highland House is able to tap from only the best resources all over the globe."
| Mohamed Al Fayed, right, and his artistic advisor, Bill Mitchell, stand before one of the furniture collection's signature pieces, the Eaton curio. |
| Some pillows feature the Harrods crest, as shown by S.A. Blyth of Art Forma, which produces the upholstery for the British market. |
| Raine, Countess Spencer, left, and Amanda Byron-Jones, both of Harrods, relax on Highland House sofa. |
| David Archibald, left, and Marty Wickstrom, both of Harrods, with Bob Walters of Thomasville. |
| Tom Staats, left, Highland House; Andrew Thomson, Harrods; and Shane Malouf, John Richard. |
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Harrods: A palace built on prestige
Dec 2, 2001
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