- Harvey Nichols
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Harvey Nichols Type Private Industry Retail Founded London, England, UK (1813) Number of locations 12 Website http://www.harveynichols.com/ 
Harvey Nichols at the corner of Knightsbridge and Sloane Street in London
Harvey Nichols on Briggate in Leeds. This was the second branch in the world.
A Harvey Nichols advertisement encourages women to buy a pair of shoesHarvey Nichols, founded in 1813, is an upmarket department store chain. Its original store is in London. Founded in 1813 as a linen shop, it sells many international brands of clothing for women and men, fashion accessories, beauty products, wine and food. Harvey Nichols attracts more younger shoppers than its rival Harrods.
Contents
History
In 1813 Benjamin Harvey opened a linen shop in a terraced house on the corner of Knightsbridge and Sloane Street in London.[1] The business passed on to Harvey's daughter in 1820 on the understanding that she go into partnership with Colonel Nichols, selling Oriental carpets, silks, and luxury goods alongside the linens.[1]
The existing Knightsbridge store, which was built by Higgs and Hill,[2] was opened in 1880,[1] with the rear section added in 1932.
In 1919 Harvey Nichols was bought by Debenhams, and in 1985 became part of the Burton Group.[1] In 1991, the store was acquired by Dickson Concepts an international retailer and distributor of branded luxury goods based in Hong Kong and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.[1] In April 1996, Harvey Nichols obtained a full listing on the London Stock Exchange and for the next seven years, remained a listed company. 1996 also marks the year when Harvey Nichols opened their first store outside of London.
In February 2003 Harvey Nichols returned to private ownership. The store is now owned by the Hong Kong-based businessman Dickson Poon who has retail businesses in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.
Locations
As of 2011
In the United Kingdom, Harvey Nichols has stores in London, Leeds, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol. It also 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, 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 (MAP) from October 2008, but closed due to poor performance in September 2010 .[3] 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 food market. A similar concept operates from the top floors of all Harvey Nichols full-size stores. Main competitors of Harvey Nichols on the worldwide gourmet and luxury food products scene include Harrods and Fortnum & Mason in London and Fauchon and Hédiard in Paris.
In 1996 Harvey Nichols launched its first stand-alone restaurant in London, the OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar, and Brasserie, viewing the River Thames. Another restaurant, called Prism, was opened in the city's financial district in 1999. Both OXO and Prism, and three of the in-store restaurants, were designed by London-based architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands.
From 2011
Two new stores were announced on 25 January 2009, one to open in Kuwait in 2011 and another in Nottingham in 2012/13.
In January 2010 the Westfield Group announced that Harvey Nichols had been invited to open its second store in the Southern Hemisphere at the $A860 million Westfield Sydney by 2012.[4]
A store was announced to open in Admiralty, Hong Kong in October, 2011.
Harvey Nichols Bristol store at Cabot Circus opened in September 2008. The tower above is luxury flats.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.[5]
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.
On 20 March 2004 protests stopped Harvey Nichols selling fur in the UK. In a statement, Clive Morton, the Company Director of Harvey Nichols, said: "The board has today reviewed the company's fur policy and has decided going forward that we will no longer stock real fur items." [6]
In August 2007 Harvey Nichols decided to take foie gras off the shelves in all their UK stores in response to pressure from PETA.
References
- Notes
External links
- Harvey Nichols web site
- Harvey Nichols online store
- Profile of Dickson Poon
- Harvey Nichols fur protests
- Harvey Nichols adverts complaint
- Harvey Nichols employment tribunals
- Harvey Nichols at Luxury Edinburgh
Allders · Beales · Boswells of Oxford · Debenhams · Fenwick · Harrods · Harvey Nichols · Hoopers · House of Fraser · Jarrolds · Jenners · John Lewis · Liberty · Morleys · Selfridges ·
Categories:- Buildings and structures in Kensington and Chelsea
- Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
- Debenhams
- Department stores of the United Kingdom
- Shops in London
- Companies established in 1813
- British Royal Warrant holders
- Visitor attractions in Kensington and Chelsea
- 1813 establishments in England
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